Truth Beyond Legend Retold
by AidansQueen
Summary: Sometimes the truth is far more interesting. (Rewritten.)
1. Prologue: Letter To No One

**A/N: Upon popular demand, I'm posting this here as well as on Ao3. I hope you all enjoy the rewrite as much as I had writing it.**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own any of it or make any money from any of it, all of it belongs to those who created the Vampire Diaries and The Originals.**

* * *

Dear Diary,

It's my birthday.

I'd tell you how old I am, but I don't remember, I lost track. Somewhere in the one-thousands to be sure. I suppose I'm writing this because Stefan told me it's good to write about things, especially after what I've been through. My story is long and complicated and I doubt I could write all of it out, even with a vampire's memory. As sit here writing this, I can hear Bonnie in the kitchen making breakfast, Stefan's concerned voice about my wellbeing or my sanity…or both. He's concerned my decades of imprisonment have addled my mind, but honestly it just felt like a really long nap.

It feels good to feel something again, though the world has changed so much since I was last awake. When I was daggered, it was somewhere around 1923 I think. It was an attempt to punish my husband for his misdeeds by his Father, Mikael. Mikael and I have a complicated history, he hunted us for decades and finally caught _me_.

I was so stupid then.

I should have ran…I should have listened to Niklaus.

I didn't.

So, Mikael did the worst thing he could do to my husband, he made him believe I was dead. What really happened was that Mikael daggered me and locked me in a tomb for a few decades. Of course, that was the after effect of something I did to persuade him to do so. That's a long story in itself, but the short version is he was lonely and decided to drag me along with him on a family vacation. Then I pissed him off and got daggered. Longer then he intended I'm sure, being that he himself had been trapped and entombed elsewhere. For whatever reason, Mikael chose not to kill me but dagger me instead.

I don't know why.

Elijah is on his way, I miss him so much, I miss them all. Nik has gone absolutely nuclear according to Rebekah. It took Stefan and Damon a week to find me, and they had to search nearly every cemetery in Georgia to find me.

It began with a spell in Louisiana.

Klaus's sister Freya began with it, using it to test the links between the siblings and the rest of the vampire population. I haven't a clue why she was doing it, I didn't ask. All I know is she realized I was alive and brought that to the attention of Klaus and Elijah. Klaus called Stefan, and then he and his brother went looking for me. Now here I am, writing in this journal, wondering and waiting. Klaus being caught up in the havoc in the French quarter was unable to come get me, so he sent Elijah in his place.

Lie.

I know he's paranoid, but seriously it's _me_. I'm not a trap or a clone or whatever he thinks this might be. Esther and Mikael are dead, so this couldn't be something they cooked up. Honestly that man needs to get out more.

So, the whole point of me writing in this diary is to tell my story, of course there's no way I'm fitting it all in one book.

I'll try…maybe just highlight the good parts?

Anyways…how to begin? I've loved fairy tales since I was a kid so maybe I'll just start with something classic.

Once upon a time, a long time ago in Mystic Falls, the last Forbes was attacked by a homicidal witch…


	2. Bello Passato

_**Disclaimer: I don't own any of it or make any money from any of it, all of it belongs to those who created The Vampire Diaries and The Originals.**_

* * *

 _ **Much Earlier…**_

Caroline Forbes woke with a start, her head throbbing. She felt like she'd been smacked over the head with a rock. Looming just overhead was a woman she'd never seen before, her vision blurred by pain. Dark hair, dark eyes-she looked like Bonnie. The other was someone vaguely familiar, long pale hair and vibrant green eyes—Esther.

Except she looked…different.

How had she got here?

She remembered running through the woods, terror racing her heart, she was human again. Defenseless, slow, clumsy….and she was being chased by men on horseback. She remembered falling, a steep tumble down a rough hill, smacking her head on the ground sharply, the violent pain of a sprained wrist….

Now she was here.

"How…" she mumbles groggily, unable to process.

"Shh," Esther coos softly, "sleep now."

"Ok…" Caroline agrees and closes her eyes.

Sleep sounded good.

That witch used a spell on her.

When Caroline woke, her head still throbbed but the pain was much less. Esther willed her to sleep with magic—a fact that irritated her.

"My husband found you in the woods while he was hunting," Esther's voice is soft as she steps into the little hut, "you are very lucky, we have wolves in this forest."

"Where am I?" Caroline asks groggily, sitting up.

"Our village, this hut belongs to our people's healer, Ayana," Esther explains, "I am Esther, wife of Mikael. He is the hunter who found you—what is your name?"

"Caroline," she mumbles, rubbing her head, "I'm…ok so I'm a little _confused_ right now…"

"No," Esther pauses briefly in thought, "that will not do—we shall call you _Thyra_ …it means _like thunder_ , for you came to us during a storm."

"Look lady I-…" Caroline trials off at the intense look on Esther's face.

"I know you are not what you seem," she says tentatively, "strange images in your mind…you do not belong here."

"Get out of my head," Caroline makes a face, rubbing her temples wearily, "your right…I don't—and I need to get back from where I came."

"Without that which was used to send you here, we cannot return you," Ayana says quietly.

"I brought you here," Esther frowns, "why?"

"I don't know," Caroline glowers briefly, "you just… _did_."

For whatever reason, Esther chooses not to question it. Instead she turns away, picking up a wicker basket near the door of the hut, "I must return to my garden, if I'm gone to long Mikael will notice—Ayana take care of her…find her clothes and then send her to me when you're done."

* * *

When she finally had her bearings, Caroline Forbes stepped out of the little hut and into the broken cool sunlight of late afternoon, glimmering over a sleep village nestled among the trees. Above her the storm clouds receded and a pale blue sky gleamed. It was nearly fall, judging by the cool sunlight. Ayana had given her a simple green wool dress to wear, and braided her silvery curls back neatly. She felt like she was in a daze, wandering through the village past people who'd been dead for nearly a thousand years by now—this would be Rick's dream come true. She faintly wondered if she was dreaming this, that she'll wake up in her bed back home and realize she'd just had a little too much to drink the night before…or Klaus was messing with her…or both. She finds Esther in her garden, a patch of tall grass amidst sprawling plants and a assortment of herbs and flowers. Esther was a witch through and through, and this was the garden of a witch.

"You're a witch," Caroline found herself saying without permission.

"You are not troubled by this," Esther says as she works the soil beneath her hands, uprooting vegetables and weeds alike. "You have met my kind before."

"My best friend is a witch," Caroline states blankly, hypnotized by the way her hands worked the soil.

"As is mine," she smiles at her faintly and then turns back to her work, "Witches are feared but heeded in our community, though you should keep such secrets to yourself. There are those who would kill a witch merely because she is one…." She sighs and sits back on her knees, her legs tucked beneath her as she sits on the ground, "what family do you hail from? You must be as I am in order to have strayed so far from your given path in life."

"I'm not a witch," Caroline tells her slowly, "Regular human…all human," Caroline tells her, sitting on a worn looking log beside her, "Look…I need to get home—I can't just stay here and-..."

"Mikael," Esther cuts her off, a forced smile curving her lips as she glances back at her husband, "My love…we have a guest. This is Thyra…her family was taken by plague and she travelled across the sea as we did. She is to make her home here with Ayana."

Mikael eyes her for a moment, "I am sorry for your loss," he pauses and then says, "I've brought deer—Niklaus failed his duties again."

Esther sighs and sets the little wooden shovel down on the soil before looking at her husband, "Niklaus does not like to hunt."

"Niklaus must learn," Mikael sneers and turns away, "they all must if they are to survive, I won't be around forever and they need to learn all that they can from us while we are still here to teach them."

"Father," Niklaus calls as he rounds the corner, "I had it—I could have taken that deer if you hadn't-…"

"You didn't _have it_ Niklaus," Mikael sneers coldly, "if you'd _had it_ as you say, the deer would be dead by your hand and yet I am the one who was forced to do it because of your hesitation."

Klaus stares, jaw set and eyes burning but says nothing as his Father shoves past. His eyes meet Caroline's briefly and he pauses to stare. For several seconds, he says nothing until his Mother's voice shakes him from his fascination. "Niklaus…this is Thyra."

He bows his head stiffly like he's unsure—he reminded her of a deer in the headlights, "My lady."

"Hello," Caroline says with a little smile and immediately feels stupid for saying it—people don't greet strangers like that around here do they? She can tell by Esther's sharp look that it wasn't the polite thing to say to a stranger.

"Niklaus," Esther says again, breaking the staring match between he and Caroline, "Go and fetch the water."

" _Mother_ ," he makes a face.

"You heard me," she says pointedly as she glances at him, "it was your task to fill our table with food tonight and your Father had to do it. You will fetch the water."

"That's a woman's task," he grimaces, "It's Rebekah's job."

"You will fetch the water Niklaus," Esther says firmly and then glances at Caroline, "Sit with me."

Alone in her garden, Esther teaches her the names of each plant and herb. "I cannot tell you why it is you are here," she says after a long while, "but I can help you survive here."

"Do you know the name of _all_ the plants?" Caroline marvels aloud.

"Yes," Esther smiles.

"Can you teach me?" she asks after a beat, "I mean…like…magic—since I'm human."

Esther smiles as she works, "I cannot teach you to be a witch, you are either a witch or you are not. We are born witches, we cannot be taught to be one."

Well there went that idea—there was no way she was going to magic herself back home.

"But I can teach you other things..." Esther smiles tentatively, "Rebekah—my daughter—does not have the patience to learn such things. I would be glad of the company."

* * *

Days turn into weeks and then into months. There is a solace in the backbreaking work she endures each day. Sweat beading on her skin as she works under the noon day sun to grind wheat against stone, to scrub dirt from soiled clothing, to help Esther tend her garden. It doesn't give her time to mourn all she's lost because she's so busy doing everything else. She thinks Esther is doing this because of the guilt behind it, knowing Caroline is here because of her. Esther burdens her with so much to keep her distracted—Caroline has thought so many times about running away, but where would she go? She has nothing now, Ayana is her only hope. Esther takes her on as an apprentice though Caroline doesn't have a magical bone in her body.

Things carry on as they must, and Caroline falls into routine. She spends so much time with Esther and Ayana, Mikael's taken it upon himself to keep an eye on her as well as his own children, and so there isn't a day she isn't being lectured or yelled at or given a funny look. When her steps weren't being haunted by Mikael, it was Niklaus. Late in the fall she walks through the woods, a shawl draped over her shoulders, a basket looped over one arm. She's searching for a special flower Esther needs for a healing salve. More and more people are being assailed by wolves, and Mikael spends most his time with the other men of the village hunting the beasts.

Above her, the leaves turn amber and Caroline turns her face to the sky, basking in the fading sunlight. Her steps are unhurried as she enjoys walking in the woods, it gives her time to reflect. She refuses to resign herself to this life, though it isn't unpleasant. She would find the spell to send her home and convince a witch to do it, somehow.

"You'll never find the flowers that way," his voice says smoothly and Caroline continues to walk, even as Niklaus reaches around her to steal a slice of bread from her basket.

"I have work to do Nik," Caroline says on a sigh and swats his hand when he tries to dip into the basket again, "and that's my lunch you're eating."

"Have you spoken to Tatia yet?" he asks earnestly and Caroline doesn't have the nerve to tell him the truth. Over the time she's spent here, she's gotten to know the Mikaelsons, and she and Klaus were very nearly friends.

Very nearly.

"She is undecided," Caroline says vaguely, "but I knew a girl once who loved two men…. you never know, she might pick you."

She shouldn't be giving him hope.

"I'd be a lot better than Elijah," he tells her as they walk side by side, "Come, the flowers are just over that hill there." He takes her hand and they hurry up the hill together, and in these moments, she forgets who he was and sees who he is right now. A boyish smile, a happy laugh. She had a hard time keeping her eyes from straying to him in those moments, the way the sunlight danced in his wild blond hair, that gleam of mirth in his eyes. Even after everything Mikael has done to him, he still finds peace here in the woods.

"Tell me truthfully Thyra, I know you know…" Klaus says after a beat as Caroline bends to pluck the flowers from the soil.

"She…" Caroline sighs thoughtfully, "I do not wish to give you hope or otherwise Nik…please don't put me in the middle of this."

She was staring again…. the way the sunlight touches his hair, the mischief in his smile as he plucks a flower and twirls it between thumb and forefinger. "My love is a fickle and devious thing…." He begins slowly, eyeing the flower thoughtfully, "her gaze like the fresh fall of rain…"

"Nik," Caroline smiles because she can't help it, "stop."

"I thought you loved my poetry?" he quirks a brow, tucking the flower in her hair. "Lovely."

"Flirt," Caroline scolds lightly and steps around him, heading back for the village, "aren't you supposed to be getting water?"

He says nothing save for a withering look.

Over supper that evening, she sits between Rebekah and Ayana, picking at the meat on her plate. Her hands are sore from hard labor, from grinding herbs and making dough. Caroline longs for a hot shower and a cup of coffee, but all she has is this.

"My lady," a woman says breathlessly as she bursts into the hut, "My husband—he's returned…and gravely injured."

"I'm coming," Esther tells her as she stands, nodding to Caroline and Rebekah. Both stand in unison, Caroline hurrying for the herbs and Rebekah grabbing the cloaks.

"I'll go too," Mikael says abruptly as he stands," Elijah with me—Finn look after your siblings."

"Yes Father," Finn says obediently with a nod.

"There are wolves out there," Niklaus says near her ear as she packs up the healing salves into a straw basket to take with them.

"I've got your knife in my girdle," Caroline says quietly, careful not to let Mikael hear her. If he ever found out she had a weapon he'd beat her black and blue for it—and Klaus too. Mikael was strongly against women wielding any kind of weapon, he believed it was the man's job to protect the family. Once when Rebekah had stolen her Father's hunting knife, Klaus found her practicing with it in the woods. He tried to show her how to use it, but Mikael came and Klaus pretended he'd stolen it to keep Mikael from beating Rebekah. He ended up getting flogged for it.

"Good girl," Niklaus whispers near her shoulder, his warm breath tickling the skin of her shoulder. "Keep an eye on Rebekah."

"Always," Caroline reassures him, as she takes the worn burgundy wool cloak from Rebekah and throws it over her shoulders before following Esther out of the hut.

As they walk she recalls the night Klaus gave her one of his hunting knives. It'd been twilight and she was by the lake, looking for moss to use in a spell Esther needed. By then they'd gotten used to each other's presence, and Klaus no longer saw her as a stranger but something akin to friendship. A wolf had found her in those woods, and not just any wolf but one of them. Klaus had saved her, and carried her back to the village. Mikael was away on a hunting trip and never found out about the attack-Esther kept her secret. She used magic and healing salves to sooth her twisted ankle so that when Mikael returned, he was none the wiser.

Klaus had also given her his knife so that if the time ever came that she was in trouble, she could defend herself. Caroline never asked him why he was wandering in the woods to begin with—or how he found her.

"Thyra," Esther's voice was firm and commanding, this was the healer the village knew. Caroline is obedient and silent, grabbing the herbs needed, her and Rebekah exchanging glances as they worked alongside Esther to patch up the injured hunter. His leg was torn badly, and it smelt of infection. Caroline knew gang-green when she saw it, and feared he might lose his leg.

Esther's grim look told her everything she needed to know.

When the man was patched up, they left. Mikael and Elijah were gone, searching the woods for the wolf who attacked the hunter. Esther and Rebekah return to their hut and Caroline wanders in the moonlight, staring up at the night sky with despair in her heart. She would always be trapped here wouldn't she? Doomed to spend her days stuck in the past, or perish at the hands of newly turned originals.

She would have to flee this village before that day came.

"Father will beat you if he sees you out here—especially on a full moon," Rebekah's voice carries across the way and Caroline smiles wanly at her, "I love the night…. it's beautiful."

"There is something magical about it, isn't it?" Rebekah says with folded arms across her chest.

"Why does your Father treat his family so ill?" Caroline asks after a beat.

"He wants to keep us safe and seems to think fear is a good tool for education," Rebekah sighs, "he's never been the same since Freya died...I think he blames himself."

Who would have ever thought the day would come when she'd be living under Mikael's tyranny? She'd heard the stories from Klaus in passing, but living them is an entirely different story. Esther isn't the evil witch she imagined, and Mikael though a complete and utter douche nozzle, was scarred by his lost child, by his failures. He sought to make up for it and because of that determination he's alienated himself from his family.

He wasn't always so horrible.

He'd been a good Father once, kind to his children until Freya was lost and Esther betrayed him with another. Caroline had no real experience of that kind of situation, but she could imagine of Esther felt when her husband ignored her and wallowed in his own grief, leaving her alone to her own.

"Is Niklaus still chasing Tatia?" Rebekah says quietly after a beat.

"When isn't he?" Caroline asks with a quirked brow.

"I rather hoped he'd be chasing you by now—he follows you around enough," Rebekah smiles cheekily at her.

"Hardly," Caroline blushes, "but we all live in the shadow of Tatia—he doesn't see me."

That's probably a good thing—to remain forgettable, so that centuries from now, he won't remember Caroline ever being in that village with him.

"Oh, don't be ridiculous—I like Tatia but I want her for Elijah," Rebekah says honestly and then with a wicked grin, "So Niklaus will have you, and we shall be sisters in truth."

"I don't know how long I'll be here," Caroline says quietly, staring at anything but Rebekah.

"You would return home?" Rebekah frowns, "There's nothing left for you…that is not the way of our people Thyra…we are survivors, warriors…returning home would be little more than cowardess."

"I miss my family Rebekah," Caroline says brokenly, sucking in a deep breath to smother the sharp spike of pain in her chest at the thought of her Mother.

"Your family is dead— _we_ are your family now," Rebekah frowns at her, "stay with us."

"You sound like your Mother," Caroline smiles wanly as she steps past Rebekah towards the hut.

"I'm not sure if that's an insult or a compliment really," Rebekah says as she follows her inside. "Perhaps both."

* * *

It was perfectly obvious that Nik did not see her that way. He's had eyes for Tatia since the day she arrived here…and yet…. he watches her. When he thinks she's not looking, his eyes are on her face and her hair, he likes to draw her. She's found his sketches before, and he'd gift them to her occasionally. It wasn't like she'd be here long enough for anything to come of it, she had _plans_. Earn Esther's trust, pilfer her grimoire and find a witch who could perform the spell to send her home. Caroline had learned enough Latin over the last few months to be capable of reading bits and pieces out of that ancient spell book.

Inside the fire is warm and she sits on the fur covered straw bed on the floor beside Rebekah. On nights like this, Ayana and Caroline shared sleeping quarters with the Mikaelson's for safety. It was better to be in a warm hut with many people who can wield a sword then be alone in a tiny hut with little more than a broom to defend one self. Caroline lies back on the fur, stares at the ceiling as Mikael and Elijah step into the wooden structure, Mikael casting his gaze over the women in the room, settling down for sleep.

"To bed," Esther tells Caroline and Rebekah, "sleep now—Niklaus, you too—Elijah give me your sword, I will hang it up. Go and wash yourself, I have food ready for you and your Father."

Caroline closes her eyes, listens to the sound of voices across the room, hushed whispers as Mikael availed Esther of all that had happened, Elijah smirking at Finn as they exchange words, the crumble of straw as Klaus lies down beside Caroline with a quiet sigh, situating himself till he was comfortable.

"You sleep over there," Caroline says quietly, nodding to her left where there was a vacant spot on Rebekah's left.

"Smoke from the fire is horrible, the wind's bad tonight. I'd rather sleep over here and not be smothered by ash," he tells her in equally soft tones, least Mikael hear and yell at them.

Caroline only nods, understanding his reasoning as she closes her eyes. After a few moments, his voice is near her shoulder, his warm breath on her skin, "I swear Nik if you ask me about Tatia…"

He pauses, holds a breath before speaking, "I wasn't going to ask about her."

"Really?" Caroline says skeptically, rolling onto her side to face him.

"No," Klaus grimaces and sighs.

Caroline rolls her eyes and groans quietly, "Nik…let her go. You are worth so much more than that…you deserve better—she's just stringing you along."

He stares briefly, raised eyebrows as blue eyes search her face, "Do you think so highly of me all the time?"

"Not always," Caroline smiles wryly, "but…" she doesn't know how to put it into words, this warm feeling in her chest when she looks at him, "but you...you…" Caroline trails off as she stares back at him, and then abruptly as her face turns bright crimson she turns over and gives him her back.

She can't exactly just run out of the hut.

* * *

In the days to come, winter sets in and the cold is biting. Caroline isn't used to the cold—but for the first time in years she can actually _feel_ it. Digging her hands into the snow she briefly revels in the sting of snow against her skin before dropping it, only to scoop up another handful and mold it between her palms, a devilish smile on her face as Kol passes.

"Don't even think about it," he catches her gaze knowingly.

"Not for you," Caroline says, nodding to the side, "Come on—let me show you."

Kol grins, he loves mischief, and if Thyra wanted a bit of fun he was more than happy to oblige. They trudge through thickets of snow to a clearing on the hill between the great white oak that sits at the center of the village. Under it, among the crippled stems of vervane they watch Elijah fawn over Tatia in the distance.

"It's for his own good," Caroline says after a beat, "he's too stiff and boring…he'll run her off."

"Agreed," Kol says with a nod as he scoops up a bit of snow, "I take it you'll have no hand in this?"

"Not a single one," Caroline tells him, "Call me the _mastermind_."

"And I your loyal minion," Kol muses quietly, "I'd love to rumple Elijah's feathers—however, I have my own request."

"Oh?" Caroline says, quirking a brow.

"Tell me what you're up too with my Mother?" Kol asks knowingly, meeting her gaze, "don't think I don't see what you're doing…winning her affections, learning her secrets… _pilfering things from her grimoire_."

"I am not stealing," Caroline sniffs, "Merely observing."

"What are you after?" Kol asks, "and don't bother lying to me Thyra…I can always tell when you lie, your terrible at it."

"I'm trying to get home," Caroline says after a beat, "I can't explain why or how…I just need to find the right spell."

"And a witch to perform it," Kol smirks, "you'll need me."

"You are the most knowledgeable," Caroline says thoughtfully, "are you game?"

"Of course," Kol grins, "but for a price."

"Like what?" Caroline narrows her eyes suspiciously.

"Have you ever wondered why my Father is so keen to protect you?" Kol asks, tilting his head to one side as he regards her.

"Not really," Caroline frowns, "I always thought it was just a Viking thing."

"You," he begins slowly, "remind him of Freya-I never met her but from what I understand, she was full of light…your hair's very nearly the same color as hers. My Father has a sword—he calls it _Rakul_. It means _the sun at dawn_ , and he loved my sister more than anything. He named his sword after the color of her hair. She was the only one who ever made him smile…." Kol frowns, "I want him to be happy again."

"Kol," Caroline says quietly, "I can't replace Freya."

"No," he tells her, "But you can be kinder to him…make him smile."

"You want me to make your Father _smile_?" Caroline blinks at him.

"Yes," Kol tells her with a wicked gleam to his eye. "Make him smile and I'll help you get home."

"You realize by doing this…if I manage to find a way home…" Caroline frowns.

"I know," Kol sighs, "Just the once, I want to see him smile."

"You're up," Caroline says after a long silence, nodding towards where Elijah stood, "Go get him."

"With _pleasure_ ," Kol grins devilishly as he stands, preparing to strike. Caroline is careful to stay out of sight, Tatia was her friend so to speak, and she didn't want to have to explain why she was doing what she was doing.

Honestly, she was trying to help Elijah—he was making a mess of this whole thing.

It works too, because the next thing Caroline sees is Tatia laughing, Elijah beet red and Kol grinning like an idiot. Until Tatia gets his with a snowball too….and then Elijah starts throwing them, and it turns into an all-out war.

One Caroline misses, because she's already half way back to the hut with a smile on her face, humming a soft tune as she steps into the warmth of the hut, the heat burning across her cheeks. Esther glances her way as she enters, noting the basket in her arms. "You are a mischievous girl."

"You saw?" Caroline quirks a brow, setting the basket on the table.

"I approve," Esther smiles faintly, "I want Tatia for Elijah as well."

"What of Niklaus?" Caroline asks after a beat.

"My son is fickle," Esther sighs, "Complicated…I do not know. I know that Tatia is not meant for him, however he might care for her."

"I see," Caroline says quietly, pulling the herbs from her basket and preparing them for the stew that Esther is working on. In the background Rebekah enters the hut, her arms weighed down with firewood.

"It's absolutely freezing out there," she says aloud as she dumps the wood near the hearth at the center of the room, "I can hardly move my hands."

"Go and warm yourself by the fire Rebekah," Esther nods towards the hearth, "and when you are warmed I want you to help Thyra prepare supper."

* * *

Supper is always an awkward affair.

Kol picks at his food, Rebekah never stops talking, Klaus is completely absent from the meal, no doubt wandering the woods, Elijah is mooning over Tatia, Finn is a Mama's boy and Henrik…well Henrik is the only sane one in the family it seems like. Caroline stares at Klaus's vacant seat, and then at Mikael's irritated expression. She had one job, and that was to make the man _smiles_.

Klaus was making this difficult.

Kol watches her expectantly, no doubt amused by her current predicament. He always loved to watch her squirm, be it by mischief or general awkward conversation. She knew very little about Freya save for what Kol has told her—how was she supposed to get this man to smile? Then she noticed it, the cut on his arm, the redness around it. "Your hurt…" she says to him, standing before he can protest to retrieve herbal salves.

Esther frowns at the injury and meets his gaze, "My love you should have told me…"

Caroline is methodical as she works, cleaning the cut with warm water, smoothing the salve over it, wrapping the wound in clean bandages. Mikael doesn't say a word, he just stares at her as she works and when she's done, she smiles reassuringly at him and puts away all of her medical equipment.

"Thank you," he says stiffly, rubbing his sore arm before returning to his supper. Caroline nods politely, gathering up the leftovers, carrying dirty dishes away to be washed. After supper she wanders the village, cloak wrapped around her shoulders, hood drawn low. He was out here somewhere, and if he was doing something mischievous she was going to smack him over the head with her _shoe_.

"Nik!" Caroline hisses quietly, walking along the line of trees that border the village, "Nik!"

"Thyra?" suddenly his voice looms in the darkness, and moments after his blond head pops up from among the tall grass, "Thyra…get out of here—if my Father sees you out here…"

"You shouldn't be out here," Caroline counters sharply, "you'll ruin everything—get inside!"

Oh…. _crap_.

There was a reason he was hidden in the grass, and it wasn't because he was star gazing. When Tatia's head pops up alongside his, Caroline groans inwardly. "Tatia…. _really_?"

"Forgive me," Tatia says apologetically, "I meant no offense."

"You've given none," Klaus tells her reassuringly and then glowers at Caroline, "Thyra was just _leaving_."

"Not without you," Caroline says flatly, "I refuse to watch him beat you again Nik, I won't do it!"

"Then _leave_ ," he hisses back irritably, "He'll find a reason to beat me no matter my actions."

" _Boy_ ," Mikael's voice, sharp as a whip crackles through the air as he appears beside Caroline, his eyes burning with anger.

 _Shit._

"Kol tells me you went out into the village, I came to bring you back and look what I find—not one but _two_ wayward children in need of a beating," Mikael says coldly.

"Father I…" Klaus stammers, panicked and afraid—behind him Tatia crawls unseen through the foliage, urged on by Klaus as he waves her away to flee.

"Get up," Mikael sneers and then looks at Caroline, "and _you_ —get back inside _now_."

Caroline didn't have to be told twice, she was gone before he'd even got to the word _now_. Klaus staggers from the foliage, jerking sharply when Mikael cuffs him along the ear hard, staggering forward towards the hut with anger burning in his eyes when he looks at Caroline.

"I'm sorry…" she mouths desperately, "I didn't know."

" _Liar_ ," Klaus hisses menacingly as he passes her, "he followed you out here."

* * *

Caroline didn't sleep that night, and neither did Klaus. Despite being properly scolded, they both sat up most the night fearful that Mikael might change his mind and beat them both black and blue.

In the early morning hours, she sits awake and Klaus is dozing off beside her. At some point in the night he moved in beside her, and she stares at his sleeping form thoughtfully. "I'm sorry…" Caroline says quietly, brushing a loose strand of hair away from his face, "I never meant for that to happen."

"It did," Klaus says quietly, his eyes still closed, "and you should have known better—my Father is even more cunning then me."

"He's afraid," Caroline says softly, "of loving anyone…of letting them in," she brushes his hair back away from his face, his eyes opening to gaze up at her, "He lost his daughter…to lose someone you love so dearly is devastating."

"So, we must all be punished for it?" Klaus says, meeting her gaze, "why does he hate me so much?"

"I don't know," Caroline says softly—though she did know. Klaus lies beside her, staring up at her with such confliction in his eyes. An abusive Father, a devious Mother, mischievous siblings. It was hard not to see why he's so twisted in the future. Kol was the real traitor here, and Kol was totally in for it when she gets the opportunity to exact revenge.

"Why do you dislike me with Tatia so much?" he asks suddenly, as if the thought only occurred to him, "I know you orchestrated that little merriment earlier…what devious plots do you weave little witch?"

"I'm not a witch," Caroline smiles wanly, "I only wish Tatia would stop stringing you and your brother along."

"She's only too kind to cast Elijah aside," Klaus says firmly, "she'll do so in time."

Caroline closes her eyes, groaning at his stubbornness. "Nik…why can't you just…" she huffs, struggling for words before she bends down and presses her lips to his. "See _me_."

Ok, admittedly…. this was her hail Mary pass, she had to get him away from Tatia once and for all…. he liked her in the future, maybe he'd like her here too? She had to admit…she liked him, even if she didn't like admitting it. There was always a part of her that wanted him just as much as he wanted her, and if she'd been less of a person, if she'd put aside the needs of others and her loyalty to her friends—do what she wanted—she'd be with him right now in New Orleans.

He's staring at her like she's lost her mind.

Oh great…she's been _friend_ - _zoned_.

"Thyra," he says edgily, sitting up as he meets her gaze, "you must understand—you're like a sister to me and I…"

Oh, it's worse than being friend-zoned, he thinks about her like a _sibling_.

That was just a low blow.

"Fine," Caroline says, blushing brightly as she stands, brushing away his hands when they grab at hers, trying to stop her, "It's fine Nik—leave me—I need to go get the water… _Father_ will be up soon."

She doesn't see the way he winces at her words, or the way Kol is smirking in the background as he looks on from his place by the fire.

* * *

She tells herself his rejection meant nothing.

It meant everything.

She tells herself as she gathers firewood and ignores the sound of Tatia's laughter that when she gets home, she won't hate Elena every time she looks at her. It was stupid to feel spurned, but she can't look Nik in the eye anymore, and when he tries to reconcile with her, she finds something to busy herself with and walks away.

"You can't ignore him forever," Rebekah's voice calls as she approaches, carrying an armful of firewood as well, "Niklaus is distraught—I hate seeing him this way. He values your friendship and you won't speak to him."

"I'm fine," Caroline says quietly, "I kissed your brother and he rejected me."

She hears the clatter of firewood hit the ground and turns to look at Rebekah's shocked face.

"You _kissed_ him?" she blinks at her and then asks, "Bloody hell Thyra I said be _seductive_ , not uncouth!"

"What's wrong with kissing him? I've always wanted to-…" she trails off, catching herself before she spilt any more secrets.

"It's too _forward_ ," Rebekah scolds her soundly, gathering up the wood she dropped before shaking a thinner log pointedly at Caroline, "No wonder he's so coy about it all. He's taken aback by your brash behavior."

"I don't think that's it Rebekah," Caroline smiles wanly at her before starting towards the village, "I think he didn't realize I was into him."

"Into him?" Rebekah frowns as they walk, "how are you… _into_ _him_?"

"You know…I like him—I don't think he knew it," Caroline explains.

"Oh," Rebekah says in understanding, " _Fancied_ …I see. Well he certainly knows now—and would you believe he hasn't stopped staring at you since."

"Because I'm ignoring him and I _know_ ," Caroline sighs, "it's unfair to be angry with him…. I'm just really embarrassed."

"Well you should be," Rebekah tells her pointedly but then adds after a beat, "I wouldn't object to your affections towards Niklaus…. I do prefer you to Tatia anyhow. If you have intentions for my brother I do urge you to be subtler about it."

Caroline smiles wanly, stopping to look at Rebekah, "Thanks…. but I think I've humiliated myself enough as is."

"He's always watching you now," Rebekah says as they start to walk again, "I think he must realize his affection for you as well and regrets his actions."

Caroline chuckles, shakes her head. Rebekah really is still so young, not the world-weary original she knew before. If a man wants you, you'll know, and if he doesn't, he won't give you the time of day…it's that simple. They enter the village and dump the firewood off by the hut before helping Esther turn the soil in her garden. Later tonight would be the holiday bonfire, something Caroline has never seen done but is assured it is enjoyable. The whole village gathers, throwing wishes into the fire—there is music and food and dancing to accompany it. It is one of the few nights that they are allowed out of the hut at night, that Mikael isn't breathing down all their necks because of his paranoia regarding the wolves.

It'll definitely be refreshing.

* * *

When night falls, Caroline weaves flowers into her hair and helps Rebekah do the same. The two dress up and help Esther carry food and wine out to the bonfire that waited near the center of the village. Before her, Caroline could see the white oak looming in the background just before the fire, the light gleaming against the pale white surface of the tree. People were already gathering, among them was Klaus. Caroline met his gaze briefly as he passes by, Tatia at his side, the two laughing as they dance around the fire. He freezes for the briefest moments, meeting her gaze before looking away.

Caroline ignores him.

It's all she can do.

She doesn't have a wish to write down, she doesn't have a desire except to go home. So that is what she writes, and that is what she watches burn in the fire before she takes a mug of mead proffered to her by Kol and drinks deeply. He smirks at her, lifting his mug with a nod before drinking as well. She doesn't dance, but instead sits beneath the tree and watches them all dance, trying not to stare at Nik when he passes, nor the way he kisses Tatia, nor the way she laughs…the way Elijah looks on with a despairing look. Kol finds her and sits at her side, deep in his cups with a wicked smirk on his face. "You look positively dull," he announces as he watches her, "what's got you so down? Surely it isn't Niklaus…he isn't worth it, believe me."

"You stabbed me in the back and yet you'd come out here and sit with me as if we were allies," Caroline says quietly, "what's your angle?"

"No angle," he tells her seriously, "I want what you want…but I also want Elijah for Tatia. I merely noted your disappearance and Father put the pieces together on his own. I intended for him to find Niklaus, as I knew you would find him. I did not mean for Niklaus to turn on you—I thought perhaps if my wayward brother were to be caught with Tatia, it might dissuade him from her company—to preserve her virtue."

"She's a widow," Caroline says thoughtfully, "she isn't exactly a virgin."

"Father can't stand the sight of Niklaus happy," Kol says, "He was to our advantage to drive off Tatia."

"You threw me into the fire along with Nik," Caroline glowers hotly, "I thought he'd flog me for being out there!"

"But he didn't," Kol counters as he stands, offering his hand, "Let's dance…we look stiff and boring just sitting here."

"I don't want to dance," Caroline says on a sigh and flops back into the vervane they sit amongst.

"Rubbish," Kol tells her, catching her by the hand and yanking her up to her feet, "Come dance with me Thyra."

They dance.

They drink.

They dance some more.

Then as the waxing moon sits high in the sky and the fire they dance around burns brighter and brighter, Caroline still finds her eyes on Klaus, and his eyes on her between the blades of flame that dance between them. Then Tatia appears at his side and Caroline breaks away from his gaze, turning to Kol, her chin on his shoulder as they turn and circle the fire.

"You alright love?" Kol's voice near her ear even as she pulls away from him and turns back for the tree, Kol following along behind her.

"Tired?" Kol asks, trailing along beside her, "You should eat something, I think perhaps you've had too much…" he tells her, catching her as she sways, slowly lowering her to the ground beneath the tree.

Caroline watches Klaus, and watches him dance with Tatia, the way his eyes shine as he gazes upon her. She never realized she cared for him as she did until the day came that he did not care for her. She felt like a hypocrite, she had no right to crave him now. She turned him away and he fled to New Orleans…she had not _right_.

"Kol," Caroline says after a beat, his own gaze on the dancers, a wry smile curving his lips as he turns to look at her, "Kol…make me feel beautiful." She looks at him, blue eyes despairing. Did it make her a bad person to want this? To crave for someone to love her as Niklaus loved Tatia? Kol would not be that man, but when he kisses her, she can forget for a little while that she is a fool, and surely a bad person to want this.

At least for a little while.

* * *

She awakens with a terrible headache and Esther's voice, soothing though firm, "It's time to get up."

"My _head_ …" Caroline groans painfully.

"Drink this," she tells her, "It will ease your pain."

She drinks the draught gratefully, draining the cup quickly. There were advantages to living with a witch, and this was one of them. The pain fades quickly, enough that she can focus and clean herself up. She fetches the water, feeds the pigs and helps Esther prepare breakfast for her sons who left before dawn with Mikael to hunt.

Well…not all of them.

Kol was out cold and Klaus was snoring on his stomach. Caroline kicks him in the ankle as she steps over him, struggling with her desire to be vindictive—why was she so _angry_ with him? He grunts and his hand darts out, catching her by the ankle, causing her to stumble.

"Bastard," Caroline mutters beneath her breath and kicks away from him, glowering hotly when he peers up at her.

"Thyra," he says groggily, but she shakes free of his grip and leaves the hut.

"Thyra!" Klaus shouts as Caroline storms firmly into the thicket beyond the village, gathering herbs, digging into the snow as she searches for usable plants that haven't been tainted by the burning cold of the snow. "Thyra!" he shouts angrily, storming up to her, " _Look_ _at_ _me_!"

"Don't shout at me!" Caroline shouted back at him, throwing herbs in his face as she catches him by surprise, "Don't you raise your voice at me Niklaus!"

"What have I done to earn such anger from you? Would you rather I _string_ _you_ _along_ as you say, deceive you with false affections when my intentions clearly lie elsewhere?"

"No," Caroline growls, frustrated, humiliated, confused. "No Nik…I don't want that."

"Then what would you have of me?" He demands irritably, "that I might have my friend back."

"Nothing!" Caroline says, "Nothing Klaus…it's not your fault—you did only what you felt right."

"You moved on quickly enough," he says after a beat, "I saw you with Kol."

"I was…." Caroline struggles for words, "I was lonely…. everyone had someone…we'd both had a lot to drink…it wasn't like he or I meant for anything other than companionship."

"Oh really," he says, narrowing his gaze, "and you belittle Tatia for her actions, perhaps you should look to your own—you sought only to anger me."

"I sought only to feel _wanted_!" Caroline snarls, gasps at the truth she just blurted out loud and then snaps her mouth shut.

He stares at her, mouth agape, his eyes unreadable. "I never meant to make you feel as such."

"It's not your fault," Caroline says, "you…you didn't cause this—I brought it on myself and I know that doesn't make sense…just let me be Nik…let me wash it away and when you see me again…." She smiles wanly, suppressing the sharpness that digs into her soul as she speaks, "we'll be friends."

* * *

She is true to her word.

They become friends again, and when she sees him with Tatia, she is blind to it. She doesn't have the right to feel as such, not when she gave up her chance. This was his life before he knew her, and she had no right to interfere. Let him enjoy his humanity while he still can, and she would find a way home and leave this place.

"Miserable cow," Rebekah makes a face as she watches Tatia with Elijah. It was spring again, and they were helping Esther prepare the garden for planting. Caroline was only a little way farther in finding a way home—she needed the same ring she used to send her here, to get herself home.

A ring she wasn't even sure existed yet—let alone know where to find it.

"You should try again," Rebekah says, "I can't bear to see Niklaus so miserable," Rebekah says, nodding towards the sulking blond across the way.

"She promised herself to Elijah," Caroline sniffs, "what can I say—we tried to warn him."

"Doesn't stop him from mooning over her," Rebekah says irritably but quiets when Esther scolds them for their current distraction.

Caroline works, throwing herself into whatever is before her, striving to ignore Nik without ignoring him. He watches her and she watches him, he is civil and she is too, though she won't stay in his company any longer then she can bear it.

"Your staring again," Rebekah smacks her on the thigh with the small shovel she's holding, smirking at her friend knowingly.

"Shut up," Caroline grouses and returns to her work, hating herself for her stupidity.

This is ridiculous, it's like his past version is getting revenge on her for turning down his future version. However impossible, she wouldn't put it past him to do that. Caroline refuses to look at him now, though civil with him when they speak. She thinks it might be irritating him that she won't look at him, and even more irritating that Kol is keen to spend his time with her. In truth, they were working on deciphering a page in his Mother's grimoire, something she thinks might work to get her home.

"You'll need that bloody ring before you can go anywhere," Kol grouses, flipping through the grimoire, "and mind the door will you—if Mother finds us meddling with this we'll both be flogged."

"How come you've never asked me where it is I'm going?" Caroline asks suddenly, curious as she watches him work.

"Because I don't really care," he says honestly, "what I care about is rescuing my beloved brother from that wretch of a woman."

"What and flinging her on Elijah?" Caroline asks, stepping up beside him.

"Elijah would do better with her—Niklaus doesn't deserve her," he grouses.

"Why do you hate him?" Caroline asks curiously, peering over his shoulder at the grimoire.

"Because he takes for granted all he's given and I must forever live in his shadow—why else? How would you feel living under the shadow of a sibling? —I don't hate him either…just…feel an intense dislike for his person at the moment."

"Oh Kol," Caroline makes a face, "seriously? You too?" Caroline throws her hands up, exasperated, "what is it about her magical golden vagina you men find so _fascinating_?"

He all but chokes on the wine he's drinking, blinks at her wide eyed and suddenly bursts with laughter, "My…how I love your fire—you're so much more fun like this! No…I am not drawn to her womanly wiles—merely annoyed that I am invisible next to such greatness."

"Hardly," Caroline smiles wanly, "you're just as handsome—you'll find someone one day."

"Spare me your sympathy," Kol sneers, "I've no desire to settle down—now let's focus. This spell is dangerous and complicated—I'm going to need a lot of things before we can get started and most importantly I'll need that ring—your task is to find it."

"I have no idea where it is," Caroline tells him, "How do I start?"

"Not my problem," Kol says in a sing-song voice before waving her off, "Go on little witch, find me that ring."

* * *

How did she go from being the mastermind to the minion? Kol had a way of flipping this on her that she didn't appreciate one bit. She heads into the woods, wielding a list of ingredients Kol sent her out for. The ring would be a delicate matter, she wasn't sure where to start. Perhaps it belonged to Esther? Something that was a link to this time-period. She could search the hut, maybe Ayana's as well. After a while, she stops mid-stride, listening to the sounds of the forest. It's quiet here but she's learned the paths, she knows where the herbs grow and the flowers bloom. She knows the trees and the sound of the creek nearby….

What she doesn't recognize is the crunch of grass behind her.

"You've been following me," Caroline says aloud, turning to face the young boy in the distance behind her. "Henrik…you shouldn't be out here."

"Forgive me," he says earnestly as he approaches, "I only meant to escort you…the woods aren't safe and you went alone."

Caroline smiles knowingly, tilting her head to one side, "Did Niklaus put you up to this?"

He stares at her.

"He did, didn't he?" Caroline rolls her eyes, groaning irritably, "Why?"

"He wanted me to spy on you," he admits quietly, "he promised me his share of sweet bread if I did."

"And relay what to him might I ask?" Caroline replies curiously.

"He wonders what you're doing," Henrik says tentatively, "He saw you and Kol meddling with Mother's grimoire."

"Of course, he did," Caroline sighs heavily, "Look…I'll give you my share of sweet bread as well if you do me a favor—least I tell Mikael you've been out wandering without him?"

Henrik stares at her in horror, "You wouldn't _dare_ …"

"Oh I would," Caroline says firmly—no she wouldn't, but he didn't need to know that right then. "I want you to take this apple to Niklaus and tell him if he wishes to know what I'm up to, he can come ask me himself."

Henrik stares at the apple and then at Caroline before taking the fruit and dashing off back towards the village. Caroline smiles wanly, shaking her head as she watches him go. Nik would have to do a lot better than that if he was going to spy on her.

"Change of plans," Caroline announces as she enters the hut, pulling off her shawl as she looks at Kol, "Niklaus is suspicious of us—we need to throw him off."

"Oh, that's easy," Kol grins at her wickedly, "He already thinks you and I are courting."

"If he tells your Mother what we're doing—it's over," Caroline tells him pointedly, "She'll hide the grimoire and we'll never find it."

"Then we'd better make it _convincing_ ," Kol says with a mischievous gleam in his eye.

Two hours later, Kol is clinging to his burning red cheek and staring at Caroline like she'd grown a second head. "What was _that_ for?"

"I said make it convincing Kol," Caroline snarls, "Not shove your tongue down my throat in broad daylight!"

"Well Niklaus believes it for sure now," he chuckles.

"You grabbed my ass!" Caroline all but shouts, "they're going to think I'm some… _whore_!"

"It worked, didn't it?" Kol snarls back, straightening. "Niklaus no longer suspects us, we can work in peace now."

They were _so_ wrong about that.

* * *

In fact, if anything she could swear he was following her. He seemed to pick on Kol more than his other brothers, vindictive as he tends to be. It wasn't until the day Mikael slaughtered his favorite horse that the damn of his secrets broke and Caroline realized what was actually going on.

She remembers it so clearly, the morning she walked towards the stables and found Nik covered in blood, on his knees. Mikael passes her, sparing her hardly a glance with a bloody sword in one hand.

"What happened?" Caroline starts and lets out a gasp, turning away from the gruesome sight of the dead horse. "Oh Nik…I'm sorry…"

"He said I was too distracted as of late, he felt the horse was only adding to the problem so he dispatched of it," Nik tells her quietly, his voice like ice, "Have you come to sneer at me too perchance? Perhaps to revel in my misery? You certainly seem keen enough to spurn me at every turn lately."

" _What_?" Caroline blinks at him in surprise.

"We used to be friends you and I, we enjoyed each other's company—but you've found another to entertain you, haven't you? How is Kol lately? I rarely see him as he's catering to your every whim."

"Don't you start with me about ass kissing suitors Niklaus," Caroline snarls venomously, "you're the one trailing along behind Tatia like a child at her skirts!"

"No better than you letting Kol ravish you like the _blackguard_ that he is in broad daylight—it's embarrassing—you should be ashamed of yourself, behaving like a _whore_ …." He doesn't finish the sentence, his cheek stinging sharply.

"Niklaus understand something," Caroline says firmly, getting in his face, "I will kiss who I want, I will do as I please, I am not yours—you gave up that opportunity in favor of chasing a woman who would rather keep your balls in her purse then make good on an ill-gotten promise to you. Call me a whore again Niklaus…see what happens." Caroline snarls right in his face, turning to stalk off back towards the village.

She doesn't get very far.

In fact, she makes it about two feet before he's crushing her arm in his grip and dragging her back towards the stables. "Get off me!"

"Shut it," he says sourly, "stop flailing woman, you know better."

"How dare you," Caroline snarls, clawing at his arm but to no avail, "Let go of me you dirty _playboy_!"

"You've no husband to punish you for your indiscretions, but I suppose I'm the closest you have to a brother, I'll have to do."

"Wait— _what_?" Caroline blinks in horror, "what are you doing?" Caroline yelps when he sits, dragging her down into his lap, "Hang on a minute—what are you…" she yelps again when he bends her over his knee and brings his hand so sharply down on her backside she bites down on her lip, desperately trying not to scream.

Klaus was _spanking_ her…

This was _so_ not fair.

"It's either this or I can flog you love," Klaus tells her firmly, "I'd rather do this—less scarring…you've got such lovely pale skin, I'd hate to mar that." Another sharp slap and Caroline closes her eyes, struggling between pain and pleasure. He literally had no idea what he was doing to her, he probably thought he was just doing his duty and _putting her in her place_ or whatever it is they do when women got a little wild.

It was honestly just turning her on in the worst way.

"Nik…" Caroline cries out, "Nik stop…seriously…" she yelps when he smacks her backside again, harder, sharply, the flat of his palm sliding over her rump.

"Now, you didn't seem to mind _Kol_ touching you so inappropriately, I figured you wouldn't mind this sort of punishment really."

She had to stop this, he wasn't punishing her, he was _torturing_ her.

She does something effective but low…just so very... _low_.

"You think it's ok to just grab me and spank me Nik?" Caroline snarls, her free hand reaching between his thighs, grabbing hold of two very important items necessary to procreation and _clenching_.

He gasps, shock and pain etched across his face, "Go on Nik…hit me again."

She is shocked when he does, hot determination in his gaze, mixed with agony.

"You _stubborn_ -…" Caroline shrieks when his hand slides beneath her skirt and slaps her bare skin so sharply the pleasure dulls and is left mostly pain.

Wait…was he getting _hard_?

She wretches her hand away, flailing as she tries to get out of his lap only to be slapped again on the backside, this time above her skirts. "I didn't say you could _leave_."

"I wasn't asking!" Caroline snarls and yanks away from him, determined.

She is gone before he can stop her.


	3. To Rise Anew

**Disclaimer: I don't own any of it or make any money from any of it, all of it belongs to those who created The Vampire Diaries and The Originals.**

* * *

Cards on the table—Klaus was so into BDSM.

She had to admit…she kind of liked being submissive…if it weren't for the fact that he thought he was doing his duty and she wasn't sprawled ungracefully over his lap. Supper is awkward because he's staring at her openly, willing her to meet his gaze and she's pointedly ignoring him, sitting closer to Kol just to spite him. Kol seems to find it amusing and plays along, letting his arm brush along hers, smirking at Klaus like a cat who ate the canary. This only serves to irritate him further, and Caroline feels the burn of satisfaction at the sight.

Bastard.

With the dawn brings a new task, one more dangerous than rummaging through Esther's things for a ring she can't find. When Kol first told her where to find the last ingredient, Caroline thought he was nuts.

"We can't go there," Caroline says pointedly, "Kol…there are werewolves living in that village, they'll _kill_ us!"

"Not if they don't see us," Kol tells her mischievously, "All we need to do is retrieve the flowers at the center of their village, the last ingredient for the ritual."

"Even for you, this is kind of reckless," Caroline points out skeptically.

He just stares at here expectantly, an eyebrow quirked.

Caroline stares back at him, huffs a sigh and looks at him, "Where is this village anyways?"

"Not even our hunters come this far," Kol muses as they walk, which they've been doing for a least a mile now. The forest around them was dense and quiet, great fading branches littered with green foliage was closing in around them like a great green claw. There were crickets in the distance, the smell of stale water from the nearby swamp. It was still cold, but spring was beginning to thaw out the winter chill, shaking it from the landscape around them. Kol cautioned her to be silent, the wolves had excellent hearing and though he was a witch, he couldn't fight them all off. They reach the village before the sun reaches its apex in the sky, a rundown scattering of wooden homes, layered with mud and straw to keep in the warmth.

"There," Kol says quietly near her ear, the two of them crouched along the tree line as they watched the villagers from a distance. At the center of the village was a slim scattered of flowers, they grew without limit or pattern along the edges of the houses, around the stables, through the trees. "Leave it to my Mother to ensure the most vital part of the ritual is heavily guarded by bloody thirsty beasts."

"Do you think they even know the value of them?" Caroline asks softly.

"Doubt it," Kol replies, "which is why nobody will notice a few missing." He cracks his neck thoughtfully, eying the wolves, "Right…you sneak around the back, grab the closest flowers you can find and grab as many as you can, I don't want to have to come back here for more. I'll keep them busy."

"Wait what-…" Caroline doesn't get the chance to protest as Kol darts off into the trees, and as she watches, the villagers turn to him, distracted by the sudden movement. A man steps from the stables, covered in dirt and sweat, his sandy hair wild around his face as eyes as green as the fresh spring grass watch Kol thoughtfully.

Klaus's Father.

He had to be…Klaus had the same jawline, the same hair color.

Oh right—Kol.

Caroline darts for the village, crawling on hands and knees to keep beneath the tall withering grass as she snags at flowers wherever she can find them.

"You aren't allowed here," the man in the distance spoke, watching Kol, "You know the truce…it isn't safe here for you."

"Oh don't mind me," Kol announces, "Just out for walk."

"He's on our land," one says, "He's fair game."

"No," says the man at the front, narrowing his gaze at Kol, "we've already killed to many of their kind during the full moon…if we act now as human they'll come for us all. We're better than this."

"I don't care Ansel," the other says, "I say we send them a message."

One darts for Kol without warning, and he uses magic to repel him—then another, and another and Caroline has more than she can carry so she darts back for the trees, catching Kol's gaze as she runs.

"You know I think I've had enough air," Kol tells them, before running in the same direction.

It is a useless endeavor though, as Caroline soon discovers. Before she can make it over the hill she is shoved into a tree with brute force, the flowers tumbling from her arms. The woman before her snarls viciously.

"You can't hurt me," Caroline tells her, frightened, "you can't do much of anything until the full moon."

"I don't need claws to kill you," the woman tells her, wielding a dagger near her face. Then her face erupts in agony, and she screams, clutching at her head. Behind Caroline, Finn appears, hand outstretched, eyes focused. "Get the flowers—hurry," he tells her firmly, his voice laced with anger.

"Thyra!" Kol shouts, holding off villager after villager, "Now!"

It takes her only a couple of minutes to grab everything she dropped, stumbling back behind Finn before another wolf lunges for her. Kol appears at her side, and the three stands together as Ansel appears among them.

"You were told not to come here," he says to Finn pointedly.

"Forgive my wayward siblings, I'll ensure they've been reprimanded soundly," Finn replies, glowering at both Kol and Caroline hotly. "We meant no offense and I assure you nobody anticipated such bloody stupidity from anyone in our village."

"These woods are not safe," Ansel presses, "I made that truce with your village to ensure their safety and I can't promise they'll be safe if people keep breaking the rules and crossing onto our land."

"I assure you it won't happen again Ansel," Finn says, catching both Kol and Caroline by the arm and dragging them away from the village, back towards home. When they'd gone far enough for Finn's comfort, he stops and rounds on them, anger flashing across his face, " _What_ were you two doing?"

"Cats out of the bag now Thyra," Kol shrugs sheepishly, "Might as well tell him—we need a second witch anyways…I can't perform that spell on my own without help."

" _What_ spell?" Finn narrows his gaze as he looks at Kol, "Tell me you haven't been meddling in Mother's grimoire again—Kol you know those spells are _dangerous_ , you're not nearly experienced enough to handle them!"

* * *

"Your mad—the both of you," Finn announces as he gazes down at the spell Kol copied from his Mother's grimoire, "this kind of magic is old, and very dangerous—if we get this wrong, she could end up _anywhere_."

"So let's not get it wrong then," Kol argues, "We have everything we need, we just don't have the binding object, the thing that connects you to where you came from."

"Where are you from anyways?" Finn asks suddenly, watching her curiously, "If you are not from here….and you didn't flee our homeland from plague…then where are you from? You have such strange ideas and customs….I knew there was something odd about you."

"I'm from the future," Caroline admits, "I know that sounds crazy, but I'm from centuries into the future. Your Mother sent me here, I don't know why but your Mother doesn't want to send me back so I'm finding a way to do it myself."

"If my Mother doesn't want you to return from wherever it is you claim to be from, then you shouldn't," Finn warns, "I'm sure there's a perfectly logical reason as to why she refused you."

"Finn when will you stop clinging to her skirts like a child?" Kol scolds lightly with a roll of his eyes, "Let's just help her—how often do you dislike her control over Niklaus…the things he does, the things she's done to him to ensure he won't get himself killed?"

"What she did was for his own good," Finn narrows his gaze darkly, "Niklaus is out of control."

"If you don't help me," Kol says pointedly, "I'm going to tell Mother what you stole from her."

Finn blanches visibly, meeting Kol's gaze, "you wouldn't dare."

"You don't think I don't know that you openly tried to murder our Father with magic?" Kol says, "I saw you poison his cup."

"He's cruel to our Mother I was only trying-…" he trails off, takes a deep breath before sighing, "Fine…I'll help you."

"There's a good lad," Kol says with a smirk, patting his shoulder as he passes, "Let's look for the ring shall we?"

* * *

That evening, what she did not realize was that all her hard work would be for nothing. While she expected betrayal from Finn, it wasn't Finn who betrayed her. As she emerged into the warmth of the hut, Caroline noticed the heavy silence over the room. Esther busied herself with supper, Rebekah was by the fire, prodding at the kindling to encourage the flames to brighten.

"Hey," Caroline smiles at her, dumping firewood next to the hearth. Then she smells it, a curious odor but familiar. As her gaze turns to the flames, she realizes what she's looking at, and horror etches across her face, " _No_!"

"I'm sorry Thyra," Esther's voice says from behind her, "But I cannot allow this madness."

"You," Caroline meets Rebekah's gaze angrily, "you told her."

"I overheard you and my brothers—you have to understand…I don't want you to leave….and that spell is dangerous, you could all get yourselves killed trying to perform it! So you see I had to tell her, I had no choice!"

"Where's Kol?" Caroline asks, panic racing through her blood.

"Outside with his Father," Esther doesn't meet her gaze as she works, "Mikael is very upset with his behavior as of late. You went into the wolf village—I would know—I planted those flowers myself."

"No," Caroline whispers, horror across her features as she runs out of the hut, shoving past Klaus as he enters. She is light on her feet as she runs through the village, spotting Mikael in the distance, Kol on his knees, blood seeping down his back.

"NO!" Caroline shouts, grabbing at Mikael's arm when he moves to swing again, the whip cracking in the air. "No stop!" Caroline shouts, "It's not his fault!" In that moment, two things happen—the first—when he brings the whip down a second time, he has no time to halt his movements as Caroline shields Kol with her body, one arm outstretched in fear, the whip ripping across the back of her dress and leaving a bloody trail in its wake. Caroline screams out in agony, the shock of pain unbearable.

"Foolish girl!" Mikael shouts, yanking her sharply away from Kol and tossing her to the ground, "How _dare_ you interfere!"

" _Please_!" Caroline shouts, tears streaming down her face, her gaze upturned as she looks at Mikael, "Please stop!"

He lifts the whip and stares at her, prepared to strike again, and Caroline braces for the pain to follow. It never comes, and when she opens her eyes Mikael is walking away stifling, the whip in his hand. She is too afraid to move at first, but before long she crawls towards Kol, weeping as she goes. "I'm so sorry…this is all my fault."

They lie there on the ground together quietly, catching their breath. Neither moves for fear of the searing pain that would follow, until they here footsteps and Klaus's fearful voice. "Brother—Thyra!" He crouches at Kol's side, horror in his gaze as blood coats his fingertips, examining the wounds on Kol's back. Then his gaze finds Caroline's, and the travel the length of her back. There is violent rage across his face, and cold and mirthless moment when Caroline is actually scared of Klaus.

"Enough is enough," Klaus snarls, on his feet, charging towards the hut as Rebekah runs past, wielding hot water and clean towels. Esther is with her, and just before Caroline passes out she can hear Rebekah's weeping, her gentle fingers brushing against her forehead, the sorrow and the regret dancing in her eyes.

* * *

When she wakes next, Esther is singing. She is lying in Ayana's hut, her back bare while Esther soothes the pain across her back with a healing salve that saps away the pain and eases the burn on her skin.

"Do you know why I stopped you?" Esther asks her, her voice gentle as the wind across a summer sky. When Caroline doesn't answer she continues, "I stopped you because you would have died should you try to return. You would have killed yourself and both my sons."

"I just wanted to go home," Caroline weeps quietly, "why won't you let me go?"

"That spell required my blood," Esther explains quietly, ignoring Caroline's words, "all my most powerful spells do—a failsafe in case someone stole from my grimoire." She lays clean white strips across her back to bandage the salve against her skin, smoothing them gently with sad eyes. "You are a good apprentice and would have made an excellent witch Thyra…but your confidence in your abilities is overestimated. If you had read the spell in its entirety you would have known about the failsafe—even Kol failed to notice it." She smiles wanly, "I enchanted the pages so hide it from anyone but a Mikaelson witch, and even then, you would need to be trained to read the inscription." After a beat she adds, "Understand that you would have died had you returned home. I do understand what you were when you came here but you were imbued in dark magic…something I do not understand. You were unnatural and upon arrival that magic was ripped away from you. You became human…most likely because whatever created you then does not exist now. If you had tried to return, there would be no magic to save you because the magic you had before would be gone."

Well _shit_.

She would have made it home only to suffocate to death in the middle of nowhere.

Fucking _Katherine Peirce_.

Leave it to that psychotic bitch to kill her a _second_ time.

Caroline closes her eyes, the sound of Esther's humming as she works is soothing despite the anger she feels towards the woman. The next time she wakes, it is not Esther who is tending her bandages, but Rebekah.

"Leave me alone," Caroline scowls, flinching away from her touch.

"I have to clean them," Rebekah presses quietly, "If I don't they'll fester and you'll get sick."

"Then have you Mother do it," Caroline mutters, irritated with the other blond.

"She can't," Rebekah says after a beat, "Nik got hurt—he challenged my Father and….it didn't go well for him."

"He _what_?" Caroline starts to sit up, cries out and slumps back down on the little bed of furs.

"Oh stop that," Rebekah scolds lightly, "now your bleeding again!" she is quick to spread salve over the wounds that break open with Caroline's sudden movement before adding, "Niklaus was angry for what Father did to you…when dawn came he challenged Father…Father won—and he…" Rebekah pauses, inhaling sharply at the memory, "he pinned him to a tree with _Rakul_ …put the blade through his shoulder."

" _I'll kill him_ ," Caroline says in quiet horror, the anger burning in her blood, "His own _son_ …how could he do that to his own _son_!"

"You know," Rebekah says idly, "for two people who have no interest in each other…you certainly do get riled up when one of you is wronged." Rebekah finishes her work, sighing as she looks at Caroline, "and anyhow…" she pauses again, like what she has to say was something horrible and difficult, "I tried to kill him once…he would have killed Niklaus if I hadn't stopped him. I picked up _Rakul_ and threatened him with it…and later that night while he slept…I stood over him with one of his hunting knives in my hand…the only reason I didn't slit his throat while he slept was because Elijah woke and stopped me." Then she takes her hand, meeting Caroline's gaze, "Never tell anyone I told you that—only Elijah knows—we kept it from Niklaus…I didn't want to trouble him."

"Can you imagine what danger you'd be in if you had?" Caroline says after a long while, "they would have hanged you."

"Mother wouldn't have allowed it," she replies quietly, "we would have fled…finally free of my wretched Father."

* * *

It is days before she can walk, the agony of her wounds leave her breathless. Esther doesn't ask much of her, she helps Rebekah get water, prepare supper, wash clothes. In the late afternoon she sits in the garden and plants flowers—it is a pass time she's come to love…it's peaceful and has become her sanctuary away from Mikael, a man she can no longer stomach to look at without wanting to flinch or tear his eyes out. From within the hut, she can hear Klaus moaning in his sleep—a fever has taken him.

"I'm coming," Caroline calls as she hurries inside, grabbing a wet wash cloth and smoothing it over his forehead, "I'm here Nik…I'm here," Caroline coos softly, checking his wound, cleaning it gently before rebandaging it. Esther was in the woods gather a special kind of flower that would seep the fever from his body and cleanse the infection—magic of course, she was fairly certain it would be.

"Thyra," he breaths softly, feverish eyes blinking open as he looks at her through a haze of pain, "Thyra…"

"Caroline," she smiles wanly—she's never told anyone her real name before. She hopes he doesn't remember it—she doubts he will. The fever will probably drive it from his mind. '

"Caroline…" he says softly and she smiles, his fingers tracing her lips when she does. "Would that I could make you smile like this all the time."

"You do more often than you think," Caroline tells him, batting away his hand gently as she works to cool him down. She recalls the night Elena Gilbert stole her prom dress and Klaus made sure she had an excellent replacement…or the night he gave her that lovely blue dress…or even that heart stopping night he danced with her and he promised that one day that little town she lived in wouldn't be _enough_ …

Seriously…she had fantasies about that for weeks afterwards—it was super hard just pretending to hate him when all she wanted to do was jump him and tear off his clothes. That was right at the beginning though, when she wasn't sure what she felt when she was close to him, why she had all those butterflies in her belly, why looking at him intimidated her.

Klaus was a _man_ , and she didn't know how to react. She'd dated guys before of course, but Klaus wasn't just another guy…he was cultured and he was smart, he was well read and he was handsome…and she was just some small-town girl trying to survive high school and college and here he comes on his not-so-white horse, trying to sweep her up and carry her off into the sunset.

Or at the very least to Tokyo…or France…or Paris…or wherever.

He frightened her, he intimidated her, he challenged her…but most of all, he _wanted_ her—how often was she everyone's second choice? She was his _first_ …he chose her over everything else and nobody had ever done that for her.

Now here he was, out there getting into sword fights to defend her honor. "What you did was _crazy_ ," Caroline says gently, "you could have been _killed_ ," she pauses and adds upon seeing the hurt and embarrassment dancing in his eyes, "and thank you…nobody has ever stood up for me like that."

* * *

It isn't long before he's back on his feet, wrestling with Elijah, running through the woods with Kol—teaching Henrik to use a hunting knife. Above her the sky is beautiful and blue, the breeze is cool and refreshing and the flowers perfume the air. Caroline has always liked the forest, but she wondered…not far from this village, perhaps a few miles was where Mystic Falls is founded. What was there now? A bunch of trees perhaps? Another village?

"Thyra!" a voice whispers from the brush, "Thyra— _get_ _down_!"

"Henrik?" Caroline turns with a curious frown, ducking down beneath the brambles and foliage with him, "Henrik…what are you doing out here?"

"Following you," he says honestly, "you always walk the same path each day…always in the same direction—where are going?"

"I don't know," Caroline says tentatively, "Just wandering I guess."

"Well you very nearly _wandered_ into deer trap," Henrik tells her, nodding towards a patch of thick foliage layered with thin branches and brush. "Beneath that is a hole Father and I dug to trap deer."

She can see them in the distance now, a flock of deer wandering the wooded areas nearby. Henrik must have seen them and feared she'd scare them off. "We'd be going hungry tonight if you'd startled them," he points out.

He teaches her about the kinds of traps the villagers set out in the woods, what to look for, where to step and where not to step. It was better to stick to deer paths and not wander in the foliage, stay away from the denser areas because the wolves tend to roam those places. Never stray far from the village without someone with her—never wander alone unarmed…there were more than just wild animals in these woods, there were people who would kill her simply because she came from the village. Men who would rape and murder her just for spite.

They walk together back to the village, Henrik helping her cut fruit from nearby trees to fill her basket, walking with her to gather fresh water from the stream to boil, wood for the fire…he was truly a kind young man.

It was a shame she never knew him better…in the days to come she would remember him, carry his smile in her heart and never quite recover from losing such a kind soul to the darkness of the world.

* * *

In the darkness, there is a dim light.

Above her head as she sleeps, the morning sunlight is seeping through the brick and mud above her head. Kol snores loudly beside her, Rebekah rolling over in her sleep as she struggles to block out the sound. Caroline rolls away from him, right into Elijah's arm. She grunts, making a face when he chuckles, amused by her sudden mistake.

"Ow," Caroline makes a face, "move your arm."

"You rolled onto my bed," Elijah points out, "I would suggest you take comfort in the bedding given to you." Though ever the gentlemen, he slides over to give her more space and she graciously takes it. Caroline loved having room to sprawl, and usually it was Nik and Rebekah who had to deal with that…however at the moment, for some weird reason he wasn't present.

Neither was Henrik, or Finn…or Mikael.

"Where is everyone?" Caroline whispers, rolling onto her side to look at Elijah.

"Hunting," Elijah says, "Father took them before dawn out into the woods."

"Would you two _please_ be quiet?" Rebekah chimes in groggily, "some of us are still trying to _sleep_."

Caroline takes the hint, smiling apologetically at the siblings before climbing to her feet and dusting off her skirts, shaking the hay and dirt from the hem. She grabs an old brown woolen apron from near the door and ties it on, quickly braiding her hair over her shoulder before heading outside to go and get water for boiling. Her hair has grown long since she came here, nearly reaching the middle of her back now in thick wavy locks. Without the magic of a hair dryer or mousse, Caroline is forced to use old school methods to tame her wild hair. Water, a comb, and a little bit of wax to tame the frizzy bits. She hums while she works, risking life and limb inside the little wooden hut where the chickens were housed to retrieve eggs, risking fingers to feed the goats, haul water up by the bucket to bring to Esther so she can start breakfast.

"Good morning Ayana," Caroline beams as she approaches the hut, smiling at her friend. Ayana though distant has proven a good friend to her, always kind…knowledgeable, she reminded Caroline very much of Bonnie.

"Staying out of trouble?" she smiles cheekily at Caroline as she passes.

"Trying to," Caroline grins at her with a little shrug, stepping around Mikael as he chops wood to set the buckets down near the door of the hut. He hasn't looked her in the eye since the day he accidently hit her with his whip. Sometimes she thinks he feels guilty, other times she isn't sure he cares at all.

" _Mother_!" Nik's voice breaks the peaceful slumber over the village, his cries of alarm frighten everyone as Caroline straightens and turns to look at the boy slumped in Klaus's arms, blood staining his tunic. "Mother! Come quick! Help me!"

Esther bursts from the little hut, fear and panic on her face as she takes in the sight of Henrik sprawled in Klaus's arms. Caroline is left speechless as Esther pushes past her to examine her son. Klaus weeps silently, brokenly as he says, "I'm sorry…I didn't know he followed me…."

Esther feels for a pulse, her heart sinking as tears burn at her eyes and choke the screams of sorrow from her lungs. She looks up at Mikael and shakes her head forlornly.

"You went to see the wolves again didn't you _boy_?" Mikael rages angrily, glowering hotly at Klaus, "This is your fault! Your brother is dead because _you_!" He is a whirlwind of rage, and Caroline has never seen him so vicious as he backhands Klaus to the ground, rage and sorrow and hatred pouring off of him in waves. Then come the tears, and she watches him drop to his knees, clinging to his wife and dead child in such deep and unending sorrow Caroline can't seem to hate him in that moment.

"I'm sorry…" Klaus weeps brokenly, bloody fingers sliding over Henrik's pale face, " _I'm so sorry_ …"

* * *

The funeral is a time of mourning and silence. Mikael spends most of his time deep in his cups after they burn Henrik's body on a traditional funeral pyre. Klaus keeps to the woods to evade his Father's wraith, driven from his home, he can't even sleep in doors. Ayana takes him in for a while, lets him sleep by her fire and Caroline brings him food and blankets. Esther fears Klaus near Mikael, she worries of what he might do. This is why Caroline is sent to find the flowers she uses to keep him asleep. They worked like a charm too, making him sleep off his anger and his drunkenness so he is easier to be dealt with.

"Mother is watching us again," Rebekah says dully, sitting by the stream, one hand on her knee as she braces her chin upon it, "The sparrows."

Caroline is sitting beside her, her gaze turned up towards the flock of birds in the trees around them, "she does that a lot lately."

"She's frightened," Rebekah says, "that wasn't any normal wolf attack…we all know it. Niklaus got our brother killed and yet I can't find it in me to hate him. He should have never wandered so far into the wolves' territory—if he hadn't, Henrik would still be alive."

The night Henrik was put to rest, Caroline witnessed Rebekah's wraith firsthand. The most passionate of the siblings save Klaus himself, Rebekah screamed and raged at her brother, violently slapping him repeatedly until Esther herself had to stop her. Tears stained her cheeks and her vibrant blond hair was a mess of tangles before it was over, Rebekah ran off and it took Caroline ages to find her. Days later, Rebekah still won't talk to Klaus, and now she sits by this same stream where Caroline found her before, staring drearily into the river.

"Klaus didn't know he was following," Caroline says quietly, "and believe me when I say nobody could possibly hate him more than he hates himself right now."

* * *

"Klaus?" Caroline says tentatively, stepping into Ayana's hut to find him sprawled on his back, an empty bottle of wine on the floor beside him. "That's not going help."

"Says who?" he mutters bitterly as his gaze finds hers, "I certainly don't feel much at the moment."

Caroline cleans up the mess, scowling at him lightly as she goes. Then she helps him up, yanking his shirt over his head to examine the scars on his shoulder where Mikael had injured him. "There almost healed," Caroline says, tentatively looking it over with gentle fingers.

"I should have died," he says darkly, looking up at her, "Henrik would be alive right now if I had."

Caroline stares down at him, cupping his face gently in her palms, "then I would never again have the pleasure of seeing your face Niklaus…of hearing you laugh. You did not kill Henrik, you didn't even know he was following you and I know you never meant for him to get killed—you are a good man—I believe in you Nik…I know you can do the right thing because I've seen it with my own eyes. You're the guy who writes me poetry and plays with his brothers…you are kind and you try to be generous when Mikael isn't being a total dick-…" she cuts off at the strange look he gives her, most likely because of her wording, "and you are…" she trails off, lost for words. "You are….you…." she licks her lips, struggling for words, "I like you…a lot. I can't bear the idea of you dying….I can't bear the idea of not having you at my side every day and I want to tear Tatia's hair out for hurting you. I want to kill Mikael for beating you…because I see the good man you are—I just wish they could see it too. I know Rebekah sees it…she's just really mad at you right now—she get over it though." She kisses his forehead, freezes when he tilts his head upward and catches her lips with his, unable to process what he was doing.

He was kissing her…actually _kissing_ her.

She was kissing him back.

Her fingers slide into his hair and she deepens the kiss, pleased when he responds. His hands find her hips and pulls her down to him, their bodies sliding against the fur on the floor, lying side by side as they kiss. His hands cup and squeeze and caress over the cloth of her gown, Caroline scarcely able to breath with all the fire burning in her blood at his touch.

Shit…even when he's all muddy and sweaty she still wants him.

Now _that_ takes talent.

When his hands find the hem of her skirt, sliding warm fingers up the skin of her bare thigh, she lets out a little moan of pleasure, wants those fingers in other important places, _needs_ them there.

" _Arhgghm_ ," a voice interrupts, Ayana clearing her throat pointedly as she stands in the doorway with her back turned, idly staring up at the sky.

They jump apart so quickly Caroline nearly rolls into the fire. As it was, the hem of her gown is singed as she smacks away the flames that lick at the fabric before jumping to her feet and straightening her skirts, blushing as bright as a tomato.

Oh wow, she is _so_ stupid.

She scolds herself when she leaves, unable to meet Ayana's gaze as she goes. What if he was just using her as some kind of booty-call to feel better? Maybe he didn't feel the way she did? Maybe he was using her? After all…it's what she feared of him back in Mystic Falls. It's what drove her away from him partly, the fear that he might just be another Damon Salvatore…another man to cast her aside like a broken toy when he got bored with her. Though she knew he was a good man…what parts of Klaus lurked in Nik? She never really got to know him that well back in Mystic Falls…she was too busy driving him away from her.

But she knew the Nik here.

She knew he wouldn't use her like that.

Yet for the next couple of days she was dodging him like a quarterback in a football game. One time she'd _literally_ dove into a bush to hide and dragged Rebekah in with her—much to the latter's displeasure.

" _What_ is going _on_ with you two?" Rebekah demands irritably.

"I may have…made out with your brother," Caroline says sheepishly, unable to meet her gaze.

"Made out? What's that?" Rebekah asks curiously.

"Well…you know…I kissed him… _a lot_ ," Caroline explains.

Rebekah blanches visibly, a blush brightening her cheeks as she looks away in understanding, "I see…and…did you lay with him?"

"No!" Caroline blushes hotly, "we just…kissed a lot….and now I'm not sure what I want because I'm not sure what he wants and…" she pauses for a moment, staring at the forest floor in thought, "I knew this guy once…and he really hurt me….he cast me aside like a broken toy when he got bored with me…used me as a means to an end and I swore I would never let that happen to me again…"

"And you're afraid Nik will do that to you," Rebekah says in understanding before catching her friends gaze, "Thyra…that is _not_ my brother…he is an honorable man and despite his many flaws…I know him to be a good man and he would never do that to do you."

Caroline nods, toying with the leaves of the bush they hide behind nervously, "you think so?"

"I know so," Rebekah says pointedly and then grows serious as she adds, "Please…don't hurt him. My brother is sensitive and loves deeply and passionately…if you don't care for him please don't torment him as Tatia did."

Caroline smiles reassuringly at her, "I won't."

"Can you fetch these for me?" Esther asks her one day as the bright noonday sun shone overhead outside. "You'll find them south of here, about a mile's walk—they grow by the river."

"Hemlock?" Caroline frowns at the list, "what do you need that for?"

Hemlock was often used many things, one of them being transformation. It could be used a symbol of rebirth is spell work. Why did this all sound so familiar? Why were there warning bells going off in her head?

"This…" Caroline frowns, staring at the list, "I feel like this is familiar…"

"It wouldn't surprise me," Esther says with a soft smile, "when you came here…I fed you tea—do you remember?"

"Yes," Caroline frowns nervously, not liking where this was going.

"The tea had magical properties…one of them was to sooth your nerves…the other acted as a means to blur your memories."

"You wiped my memory?" Caroline asks, horror etched across her features.

"Not wiped—not all of it, just enough to ease your mind and help you adjust here," Esther reassures her, "it is better you do not remember your past so that you might better accept your future."

"I don't understand…" Caroline says worriedly, panic racing through her blood. It was starting to make sense now, the bits of pieces of her scattered memory as they slowly slipped away from her over the past few months. Esther took her memories slowly, slow enough that she wouldn't notice until it was too late.

"Forgive me," Esther says gently, cupping her cheek, "It was for your own good—after you tried to steal from my grimoire I knew I needed to act quickly…the tea you drank…I made it stronger. I needed to know you wouldn't risk your life so recklessly ever again."

For a brief time, she just stared at Esther like the witch had gone crazy. Then she sits by the fire, tears burning in her eyes, "I just want to go home."

"I can't do that," Esther says apologetically as she offers her another cup of hot tea, "but I can ease your pain…drink…and you will feel no more sorrow about what you cannot recall…this will be your home and _we_ shall be your family."

At a loss for words, as despair clawed at her heart…she drank the tea.

And then she forgot.

* * *

She's walking in the woods later that afternoon, a basket over one arm and a walking stick in the other. Behind her she hears the sound of hurried footsteps, sees Niklaus running after her, wild blond hair in the wind, that coy smile on his face. "You left the village so quickly…" he calls as he approaches, "I haven't seen you in days it feels like."

He makes her heart skip a beat every time he smiles at her.

Her Niklaus.

"I was…" what was she doing? Gathering Hemlock for Esther, sharing lunch with Rebekah, gathering firewood…. "Your Mother sent me to gather some herbs."

"Let me accompany you," he says earnestly, falling into stride beside her, "You shouldn't wander alone in these woods."

"Good thing I brought enough food to feed you too," Caroline smiles, motioning to the basket in her arms.

They walk for ages it feels like, the wind in the trees, the smell of foliage and flowers and moss along the rocks of the river as they trail along it, searching for Hemlock. When they find it, he helps her gather some of it, tucking it away neatly into the basket before sprawling out with him along the side of the river, eating slices of peaches and sharing a loaf of bread. They drink blueberry wine and sunbath against the rocks along the river, Caroline listening to the sound of his breathing as he naps beside her. It was so peaceful here in the sunlight, the rush of the river and the song the birds in the trees. She curls against him, her head on his shoulder as his arm curls around her, anchoring her to him as she listens to his heartbeat.

"Are we ever going to talk about what happened?" he asks after a beat, his fingers curling in her hair.

"I'm afraid," Caroline admits quietly, unable to meet his gaze, "I knew this guy once and he used me…and…"

"I wouldn't do that," his voice is sharp as he cuts in, stiffening against her.

"I know that," Caroline says reassuringly, "I just panicked."

"Thyra," he says gently, turning onto his side to face her, his fingers curling beneath her chin as she looks up at him, "I will never do that to you."

"I'm afraid," Caroline whispers softly.

Of course, she was scared…but he didn't understand the extent of it. Though her memories have faded and turned into nothing but mere shadows of dreams, she can still see flashes of the Klaus she knew, of the man with the cruel smile and the flashing golden eyes, the man with the coy smile and the unending charm…which was which?

She was so confused.

He leans close, sliding his lips against hers and she responds, she can't help herself. There was joy in kissing him, lying here at his side in the warm sun and simply enjoying his presence. When the sun dips low, they walk back to the village hand in hand, Klaus pressing kisses to their clasped hands, grinning as he tells her stories of his boyhood and the troubles he and Elijah got into in the woods. Everything felt so normal, so safe.

Caroline was happy like this, happy with this man, happy with this village…she never wanted to leave.

But sometimes happy endings aren't so happy.

* * *

"To the harvest," Esther smiles warmly, toasting to her family with goblet outstretched. They all drink deeply, revel in the roasted meat, the cheese, the bread. There is laughter and there is dancing under the moonlight outside, a bonfire roaring with life as Caroline and Nik turn and twirl and sway to the music. He sneaks kisses and drinks deeply from his goblet, sharing the sweet tasting wine with her, licking the taste of it from her lips even as the crowing of others around them laugh with amusement and joy.

In the shadows Caroline and Klaus sneak off while the others celebrate the autumn harvest, and he presses her against the side of a tree, sliding his hands under her skirts, hoisting her up in his arms as she curls her legs around his waist. Her heart races with love as they kiss, passionate and slow and deep as they rock against each other, his body hardening against hers, teasing her from within his breeches.

"Niklaus put her down and come dance with us!" Rebekah scolds, laughing when her brother nearly drops Caroline in embarrassment, blushing brightly. Caroline squeals and drops her skirts, scowling at Rebekah for interrupting them.

"Leave it to my sister," he mutters as he adjusts his pants and blushes when Caroline notices the evidence of his desire for her.

"Take a few breaths before you go out there maybe?" Caroline suggests with a blush and a grin.

"I'd need more than a few breaths to put this to bed love," he says to her as he meets her gaze, "I hardly think standing so close to you is helping either."

Caroline giggles as she kisses him, nibbling at his bottom lip, tugging gently, making him groan in desire as his hands catch her waist and push her back against the tree. She laughs as she evades him, a challenge in her eyes as she runs back towards the bonfire and the rest of the village.

" _Minx_ ," he grins wickedly and follows, snatching at her skirts as she runs to evade him.

These would be the last moments they shared as humans, blissfully unaware of what awaited them. In the years that would follow Caroline would look back at those moments as one of the best times of her life with him, when they were human and in love, when they smiled and laughed and nothing troubled them.

She would miss it.

They sit around the fire inside their hut in the early hours of morning when the village had gone to bed, drinking wine as they lie by the fire, sprawled near each other telling stories. Rebekah had already begun to doze off, her head in Elijah's lap. Esther was smiling as she listened, cleaning up and preparing for bed. Her gaze drifted across each of them, watching them drink deeply from the goblets they held, taking the wine she offers each of them in turn and drinking it promptly. Caroline is half asleep, lying back on the furs beneath her as she lets the warmth of the fire carry her off into sleep.

This peace is short lived however.

It begins with a scream, Rebekah is screaming and she doesn't understand why, but when she sits up, her vision blurry and her stomach turning she knows there is something horribly wrong. The taste of wine in her mouth is bitter and coppery, and she realizes with quiet horror that it must have always tasted that way…had she masked it? When her gaze settles on Elijah, blood seeping from a wound to his gut, Mikael wielding _Rakul_ …she staggers back and trips over Klaus, who stirs drunkenly and sits up, horror in his gaze as he sees what's happening. He cries out when Mikael strikes Rebekah next, charging forward, struggling to wrestle the sword from his grip. "NO!" he roars as Rebekah crumbles to the ground, "NO!"

Caroline scrambles to her feet, shielded by Kol when Mikael overpowers Klaus and runs his through with a vicious gleam in his eye, shoving his body to the floor.

"NIK!" Caroline screams, struggling to get past Kol but to no avail, his determination to shield her keeping her behind him.

" _No_!" he snarls at her, "stay back—Father…Father stop this madness!" His magic is useless against Mikael but he tries anyways, only to be overpowered by Esther. When Mikael runs him through, Kol crumbles to his knees in pain and collapses sideways.

She was cornered now, Mikael charging forward, determination in his gaze. "No…please…stop!"

Her pleas go unheard when his blade pierces her chest, Caroline gasping in shock and pain, horror in her gaze as she clutches with bloody fingers at his tunic, "Please… _stop_."

He doesn't stop, not till Finn is dead, his blood seeping into the ground beneath him. Caroline's last moments are these images, her beloved Niklaus dead by the fire, Rebekah sprawled like a broken doll near Elijah…Kol gasping for breath as he reaches for Caroline's hand in a kind of effort to comfort her, fear and sorrow and rage in his eyes.

It felt like falling asleep after that, her hand in Kol's, the siblings scattered around the fire as Esther wields a dagger and stabs Mikael, watches him collapse to the ground as well.

"It is done," Esther announces aloud, gazing down at her fallen family. "Forgive me…" she whispers brokenly, her gaze on her children's faces, "I had no choice."


	4. Always and Forever

**Disclaimer: I don't own any of it or make any money from any of it, all of it belongs to those who created the Vampire Diaries and The Originals.**

The first time she became a vampire, she woke to the sound of florescent light busy with electricity overhead, the noise of human voices, the smell of blood. She woke in a hospital, which is by far the very worst place you could wake up while in transition.

Unless you're in a quiet little village in the middle of nowhere, surrounded by tasty smelling humans and nobody strong enough to stop you because you just so happen to be a brand new baby original vampire.

She is one of the first to wake, gasping for breath, clawing at it with her lungs, reveling in the sweet taste of air. Esther looks up from her place by the fire, her gaze fixed on Caroline's face, "At last…"

Rebekah is next, and then Klaus, and then Kol and Finn and Elijah. Mikael wakes last, a collective silence falling heavy on the little hut as all eyes turn towards him. Esther's voice breaks the silence, standing as she meets their frightened gazes, "I know what I have done to you is frightening…but it must be done to protect you. I have made you strong...stronger than the wolves who seek to destroy you…to destroy our village and our way of life. Henrik's death will not go unanswered—we _will_ defend our home." She turns, wielding a bowl of what Caroline knew had to be blood. "The key to your transformation is this…you must feed or you will die by the days end. Once you do so…you will always have to feed…blood is your life source, it will sustain you."

There was a bizarre difference between being a baby vampire, and being a baby _original_ vampire. She has never in her life felt such a pull for blood, such overpowering hunger she wanted to rip that bowl out of Esther's hands and drink it all. She wanted to rip Esther's throat out and roll in her blood, she wanted to tear this village to pieces….

Apparently, the others had similar ideas.

Esther has no time to react when they all charge at her, Caroline tearing at Kol, Kol tearing at her, Klaus barreling right through both of them as he snatches the bowl from his Mother's hands, drinking greedily before it's knocked from his hands and they all drink it up like animals, off their hands, the floor, ripping at each other, fighting for that last sweet taste of blood before Rebekah catches a whiff of something sweeter and wanders away towards the door while Mikael is too distracted by the scent of blood to stop her. It's when the screaming starts that he notices, and in a flash of movement he's outside looking for her.

Then everybody else goes outside and a massive _shit storm_ descends on that poor little village.

Of course, there are consequences that come with such things, and they would soon learn them. For now, they embraced the hunt, fed voraciously and danced under the stars. It was euphoria and electricity racing through her blood as she fed, and every time she tore into another throat, she felt so high, floated so far up into the stars that she forgot herself, the smell of the river, the wind in the trees, the taste of fresh blood, the scent of the forest…her senses, her reflexes…everything was _different_.

* * *

In the morning, those who went unharmed would call the attack a savage raid made by the wolves. The Mikaelson's secluded themselves indoors during the day, having discovered the burn of the sun every time they went out.

This was not helping matters.

"Niklaus if you can't sit still I will _make_ you sit still," Kol snarls darkly, glowering at his pacing brother.

"Will both of you please shut up?" Elijah snaps irritably, weary of their bickering.

"I wasn't doing anything, _Kol_ was the one-…" he trails off when Caroline smacks him in the arm, giving him a pointed look.

"I'm almost done," Esther announces as she gazes around them room, "you must refrain from fighting until then…you know that your strength is different now, you could easily destroy our home in your anger."

"Boy," Mikael grouses from his place at the table, " _sit_ down."

Klaus glowers defiantly at Mikael but does as he's told, Caroline dropping down onto the floor beside him.

"If you push him any farther he's going to throw you outside," Caroline teases him lightly.

"That's an excellent idea," Mikael chimes in and Caroline winces, forgetting that everyone's hearing is heightened and not just her own.

"Enough, all of you," Esther interrupts sharply, "I need to concentrate."

"We're all going mad cooped up in here Mother," Kol whines aloud, kicking the wall in frustration and wincing when he knocks a hole in it.

"You're going to fix that," Mikael announces without looking up, drinking deeply from a bottle of wine on the table.

Amidst it all, Caroline sits beside Klaus, gazing at the flames, pondering her new immortality. She doesn't see the way Esther watches them, the way Klaus's fingers trail along her hand, itching to hold it or the way Esther notices the connection between them. As Caroline stares into the flames, she begins to see images, strange images dancing in the flames, blinding flashes of light and sound as memory begins to break through.

She gasps sharply….and then she remembers.

 _Everything_.

She looks at Klaus like she's never seen him before, the images of nights and days spent together in his house, a massive sex-a-thon with brief interludes of wine and dancing and conversation.

She didn't just kiss this man, she's slept with him…in just about everywhere she can think of. They drank and they fucked and they slept side by side in the same bed. They showered together, they fed together…she did things she couldn't believe she actually did considering he murdered Carol Lockwood and slaughtered Tyler's whole pack.

The worst part…is there's _more_.

How many times did he compel her to forget all of this? How many times have they been together, shared love and life…

Sweet _fuck_ did she let him paint her _naked_?

"Oh my god…" Caroline stares at the fire, a flush of bright red creeping up her neck and she fights very hard not to flinch away from Klaus who sits beside her, totally unaware of what she was currently remembering. In his mind, they'd only ever kissed…he wasn't caught up to speed just yet because he hasn't gotten to that part of the story yet.

She also remembered her life in Mystic Falls….and what Esther did to her.

That _bitch_.

"Caroline," she blinks as she looks up, Klaus's voice doesn't come from beside her but from across from her, his image as he stands in modern clothes, meeting her gaze, "Caroline listen to me…this is important. By now I'm sure you've recalled out little… _rendezvous_ ," he smiles wickedly for a brief moment before continuing, "and you'll be seeing this as well…I left this image in your mind because I knew one day you'd be in a position to retrieve something for me that none of us would be capable of doing…I need you to retrieve something from my Mother and hide it so that we might find it here in the present."

"Forgive me…I know it was wrong to steal these memories from you but it was necessary to protect our family…." Klaus's voice is a distant memory, his eyes were pleading for her to understand even as his image faded and she was left alone in the past with he and his siblings once more.

He wanted her to steal something from his Mother, a pendant of a sparrow, a particularly dear item of value given to her by her sister Dalia.

How was she supposed to do _that_?

* * *

Esther makes daylight rings for all of them, and they try desperately to return to normal life. They fail miserably of course, with Kol ripping into every pretty young thing that crosses his path and Rebekah unable to contain herself for even a split second every time somebody gets a scratch. The last somebody got injured Caroline had to practically _sit_ on her to keep her from tearing through the village in broad daylight for all to see.

Klaus was an entirely different problem.

One nobody anticipated save for Esther, Esther who failed to account for it when she changed them all. It happened on a cold clear day late in the fall, Caroline toiling endlessly to keep up appearances though none of them save Esther needed to eat or hunt or make salves…the only thing they required for survival was the one thing easiest to obtain for something like them. Caroline struggled to be inconspicuous with her efforts, feeding off livestock and wolves she catches unawares in the forest. Kol is to forthcoming with his habits, Mikael is always after him about his behavior because if people discovered what they were….it would be the end of them.

"Elijah—any sign of him?" Caroline calls, trudging over muddy hills towards the elder brother, a basket over one arm.

"I can smell him on the breeze," Elijah says, "I heard him earlier…I think he's changed back by now."

"He's a werewolf," Caroline says aloud, "that means…"

"That means that Mikael is not in fact, his Father…" Elijah trails off faintly, a look of concern on his face, "Thyra we have to find him."

"We will," Caroline reassures him gently, pushing onward into the woods with Elijah at her side.

They find him before long, naked and covered in dirt and blood as he sits on the forest floor, knees pulled tight beneath his chin. "Finally,…" Caroline says, rushing forward only to have Klaus throw out a hand to ward her off.

"Stay back," he says, and she can see the pain in his eyes, the horror of what he's done.

"Nik," Caroline says gently, pushing forward despite his warnings, "It's ok…the moon is gone, you won't change again."

"I can still feel it," he says softly, "I can feel it just beneath my skin, pushing and aching and struggling to be _free_."

"Six…" Elijah says after a beat, "You killed six villagers Niklaus…this _cannot_ go on."

"What am I brother?" Klaus weeps quietly, clinging to Elijah's arms as he helps him up. Caroline covers him with a blanket, kissing his shoulder gently.

"I have no idea," Elijah says gently, "but Mother will know what to do."

"He's a hybrid," Caroline says quietly as they walk, both brothers stopping to look at her curiously. "A vampire and a werewolf…you're the best of both worlds…but you have both weaknesses."

"She lied to me," Klaus says after hearing her words, "Mother lied to me…Mikael was _never_ my Father."

"No," Elijah says after a beat, "No he isn't."

* * *

Dark magic comes with a price.

Even Esther, one of the most powerful witches the world has ever seen could not evade such a consequence when she turned her children into monsters. When she created the spell, adapting it from something she stole from Silas, she hadn't anticipated what it would do to her children. The sun became their enemy, the bark of the white oak their peril, the violet flowers they once loved to lay in became their bane.

But there was a greater price still.  
Caroline saw that price paid in blood and death, the night Esther confessed the truth to Mikael, to Niklaus about his true parentage. That night in the flames of a burning village Mikael slaughtered them all in his rage, an Ansel was the first to die. Klaus is his torment went after him, but only found his Father slaughtered like the rest of his pack.

Yet that wasn't even the worst of what was to come.

It began with Tatia.

She would remember the day as clear as a bell, the blood on his hands, the woman in his arms. Elijah loved Tatia with every breath in his body but when he came into the village carrying her broken body, Caroline felt like she'd never seen him before in her life. Elijah Mikaelson, ever the confident gentlemen, ever the rational man of endeavor and responsibility. Never a day came that she saw him fail his family, his unfailing loyalty and love for them drove him on. Yet the night he became a vampire, she saw the monster within crawl free and devour whatever stood in his path.

Even Tatia.

"Save her….please…" he whispers brokenly, blood on his face, his clothes, his hands…Esther looks at Caroline, then at Elijah as she touches his forehead, whispering softly to him, telling him to clean himself up, whispering to forget what he's done….

When he goes, Caroline only stares at the girl who bore such a strong resemblance to Elena she wanted to tear Elijah's eyes out.

"Never tell him," Esther warns Caroline as she turns with Tatia in her arms, "Never tell him the truth—he will not remember this moment and I beg you Thyra…never tell him."

Then she's gone.

* * *

She finds Klaus in the woods, he smells like blood. The hunger that burns in her gut, burns in all of them and she can understand the difficulty in restraint. After all she saw, she only longs for comfort and solace in his arms. They have no words between them but it is an unspoken truth they love one another. Caroline couldn't bring herself to say it aloud, and he feared to tell her least she turns her back on him. He didn't know yet of Tatia's demise and she couldn't tell him, so instead she kisses him, lets him lick the blood from her finger tips and drink the taste of it from her lips as she revels in the taste of his.

It is a hurricane of need, two creatures made from darkness on the forest floor, against trees, tearing at clothing, kissing and devouring each other like wild things in the night. He isn't gentle with her but she isn't complaining, neither really understood their own strength yet, but they weren't likely to hurt each other either. It's nothing but skin on skin and his lips on her body, her hands on his, his weight pushing her down into the foliage, claiming and demanding, making her back arch and his name cry from his lips. He was such a demanding lover at times, she has these memories of their lovemaking back in the present, she can taste that same fire in him right now, she loves the way he wants her, the wave he craves her, the way he claims her and owns her in these moments. Her soul and her breath and her heart were his.

Once they start they can't seem to stop, vampire sex was way better than regular sex, and they spend hours roaming the woods, loving each other, lying in the grass as they stare up at the stars. Finally, it is Rebekah who finds them, all but irritated with them because she can't keep them separated for more than a few minutes before they get distracted by each other again.

"Mother wants you in the village," Rebekah tells Klaus, turning to head back.

"Looks like were being called home," he tells Caroline as he offers his arm, the two walking together back towards the village.

They're ambushed the moment they enter the village.

"I'm sorry brother," Elijah says as he and Finn restrain Klaus, dragging him towards the stand in the distance, tying him too it as the moon fills the sky above. Caroline screams but is dragged away, clawing at Mikael with all the rage she can muster, fighting to get away from him until she bites down on his arm with all she has and he roars in pain, throwing her like a ragdoll across the ground, rolling into the garden unmoving.

Klaus roars, his eyes following her form, Esther chants and his siblings stand around him. Caroline can barely manage to crawl towards him, Mikael only knocking her aside whenever she tries to stand.

"Stay _down_ you stupid girl," he snarls, "don't make this any harder than it has to be."

"I'll kill you," Caroline spits venomously up at him, "So help me _I will_."

Such conviction in her words, such belief….it almost seems to put him off briefly before he bends low and snaps her neck with one sharp yank.

When she wakes…everything is different.

* * *

The village was burning.

She walks through a scattering of corpses, blood stains every door and window, the ground beneath her feet. There is terror in her heart when she sees Esther, sprawled lifeless on the ground, a gaping hole in her chest.

"Nik?" Caroline asks nervously, fearfully.

" _Thyra_!" Rebekah shouts, running towards her, "Your _alive_ …nobody could find you…"

"Where's Nik?" Caroline says urgently, fearful.

"He's fine…well…" Rebekah shifts her gaze around the village, "Completely off his head…but otherwise alright."

"What did he do?" Caroline says in quiet horror, " _He_ did this?"

"Mikael did this," Rebekah says quietly, "he killed Mother after the ritual…."

"This is insane," Caroline says in a panic, taking her by the hand as the two rush to find the others.

They gather as a family, bury their dead and mourn in silence. They know they can't stay, not with a burning village and everyone dead. Not with Mikael still out there, roaming the country side drowning in his rage. Not with Nik as he is, with the vengeance burning in his heart for what his Mother did to him.

"Always and Forever," would be the words they whisper in the early dawn, holding hands as they bury Esther.

 _Always and Forever._

* * *

 ** _Present Day_**

She hears it before she sees it, a sleek black car pulling into the driveway of the Forbes house. Caroline, curled up in the window of her bedroom stares down at the car before casting her diary aside to stand.

Elijah.

She watches him step from the car in one fluid motion, and she is transfixed. She hasn't seen him in decades and he looks exactly the same save for a haircut and a change of clothes. With a blur of movement, she's down the stairs and standing outside on the porch, looking at him looking at her.

"Elijah," Caroline beams, tears burning at her eyes when she darts forward, throwing her arms around his neck, embracing him with joy. Over his shoulder another steps from the car, a woman with a willowy form and golden hair cropped at the chin. Mossy green eyes meet her blue and for a moment Caroline could swear she saw Mikael in her gaze.

"I have missed you sister," Elijah says into her hair, his arms creeping around her shoulders to embrace her back.

"I never thought I'd see you again," Caroline murmurs brokenly, fighting back quiet sobs, "I tried so hard to get back to you…to Nik….Mikael wouldn't let me go…"

"I know," Elijah pats her gently before carefully prying Caroline off of him, nodding towards the woman beside them, "This is Freya."

"Freya?" Caroline freezes, her gaze focused on the other blond, "Your Freya— _the_ Freya? The Freya that was lost to plague?"

"One and the same," Freya smiles wanly, "I wasn't lost to plague however—but that's an entirely different story…maybe I'll tell it to you sometime."

"I'd like that," Caroline says and then beams up at Elijah, "Where's Nik?"

"Preoccupied," Elijah says vaguely, his eyes telling more than words ever could. Nik wasn't preoccupied, he was cautious just as she predicted he would be.

"What's happening to you arm?" Freya's voice cuts in, her worried tone drawing focus to the problem at hand. Caroline glances down, and a strange numbness creeps through her veins. Then it curls higher and higher, and the faster it moves the more crippling the pain becomes as she stumbles away from Elijah, horror in her eyes.

"What's h-h-happening to _me_?" Caroline chokes out, frightened.

"Your desiccating," Freya says, an analytical gaze following the trail of corruptive magic along Caroline's arm and towards her heart.

"I can't breath," Caroline says, clawing at her throat, stumbling back away from Elijah and Freya. Her legs give out and she collapses, her body like lead.

Then it stops.

She lays there for minutes before a collective sigh of relief is heard from the group. "Is it over?" Caroline says after a beat.

"Caroline, I-…" Elijah pauses as he steps forward, watching his sister in law cry out in pain every time he steps close.

"She's cursed," Freya says pointedly, "Elijah step away from her—I need to figure out what we're dealing with."

* * *

In the house they clear off the living room coffee table, Freya raiding the kitchen for anything she can use before meeting the others back in the living room.

"I need a vial of your blood," Freya tells Caroline, "and a few other ingredients I can't find in your kitchen."

"What you need?" Caroline asks, quirking a brow. The first thing she did when she was strong enough was gather herbs and flowers, things she could use in case Mikael came calling.

Freya makes a list, Caroline retrieves them and Freya is left with a weary expression. "How?"

"Just being prepared if Mikael shows up," Caroline says and pauses when Freya flinches.

"Got to you too huh?" Caroline says, dropping down onto the couch to regard her.

"Mikaelson blood is what triggers your desiccation," Freya says, avoiding the question, "except me of course—Mikael didn't account for me when he had you cursed."

"Why have me cursed at all?" Caroline counters and then pauses in thought, pacing the room. In the kitchen, she can hear Elijah making tea, the sound of the neighbors mowing the lawn, the wind in the trees. "Of course—in case I escaped him. He wanted Nik to hurt—taking me was just one way he could inflict pain on him…so he had me cursed in case I escaped, just to make sure I couldn't go back to him."

"Shouldn't be too hard to remove," Freya says thoughtfully, "A little of your blood, a few herbs and a spell…I can cleanse you of the curse and we can all go home."

"Optimistic little witch, isn't she?" Another voice chimes in, Damon Salvatore popping his head around the door frame to flash a charming smile, "Hi."

"Damon," Caroline says with a small sigh, " _what_?"

"So, I was in the neighborhood and remembered _oh_ _yeah_ —we've got a homicidal blood drinking witch running around…maybe they could _help_."

"We don't have time for a witch hunt Damon," Elijah adds from the kitchen, "We have our own crisis to deal with."

"Ah," Damon says while pointing at Freya, "Just imagine what he'll do when he finds out _she's_ here."

"We won't be here long enough for him to find out," Elijah says pointedly from his place in the kitchen, idly stirring his tea.

"Yeah—about that," Damon says smiling knowingly.

"That's not Damon," Caroline says, paling considerably.

"Welcome back Original Barbie," Damon-who-is-not-Damon says with a broad smile, "So glad you brought friends."

In seconds, she is on the ground, agony ripping through her head with a scream of pain. Elijah flashes into the room, only to be thrown back into the hallway. Freya stands, ready to fight but never gets the chance, her magic was powerful but it didn't last long against Silas. He's quick as a flash, invisible knives slicing at her shoulder, making her scream out, blood dripping down her shoulder. Her hand clenches at the wound and she stumbles back, Caroline getting to her feet while Silas is distracted by Freya, anger flashing in her eyes.

Man, it was good to be an Original.

Her senses heightened even further, faster than she ever was before, she is a blur of violence that barrels into Silas at full force, teeth ripping into his shoulder savagely.

" _Bad_ girl," Silas scolds lightly, sending her flying back into the far wall, his free hand brushing the already healing wounds at his neck. "No biting." He grins at her agony, his gaze shifting between her and Elijah, "Opps…looks like you two got just a little _too_ close."

"Elijah," Freya cries, "Get away from her—wake up!"

"Now, now," Silas turns to face Freya, twisting Damon's face into an ugly smile, "Play nice little Mikaelson, I only came for what I am due."

"My Mother got the spell from you," Freya coughs, blood seeping from her nose as she stands on shaky feet, "I know…but she paid her dues…leave us alone."

"Not _entirely_ true," Silas tisks lightly, pacing the room, "See—she stole that spell from me and twisted it into something _disgusting_ …I'm only owed something from her in return," he grins, watching her thoughtfully, "I think I'll take _you_."

"Not gonna happen," Freya says with hand outstretched, focusing all her power on Silas.

"None the less," he smiles wanly, "Your blood will due _for_ _now_."

She doesn't have time to react, he's on her before she can stop him. She screams out when his hands clench her wound, forcing blood to seep thicker and faster from it into a tiny vial he pulls from his pocket. "Mikaelson blood…one down, two to go."

Then he is gone, and Freya collapses her last sight being Caroline unconscious and desiccated and Elijah, sprawled on the floor in the hallway.

* * *

"Caroline," Stefan's voice echoes in her dreams—she's dreamed about Stefan a lot over the years. His voice says her name again and she blinks open her eyes, realizing she wasn't dreaming at all.

"Stefan?" Caroline says, her throat dry and aching, "What happened?"

"Silas happened," Freya moans from her place on the couch, an ice pack held against her forehead.

"Elijah?" Caroline jumps, pulling away from Stefan as she searches for her almost-sibling.

"I'm here," he calls from the porch outside, "I thought it best I stay outside for now—give you an opportunity to recover."

"In the _closet_ ," Damon's voice announces as she stumbles into the room, "He snapped my neck and shoved me into a _closet_ — _so_ unclassy."

"Hey," Caroline says as she stands, "You alright?"

"I'm fine," Damon says with a wince as he rubs the back of his neck, "Irritating prick left me in the closet."

It makes sense now.

She wondered why she hadn't noticed she was alone in the house, why nobody was with her, why it was so quiet. Now she understood, Silas got the jump on Damon and had been waiting in the wings for the right moment to strike. "Why didn't I notice?"

"He probably used a spell to distract you," Freya says groaning as she sits up, "He's clever."

"Speaking of spells," Elijah says after a beat, "We need to sort out the one our beloved Father left on Caroline."

"Yes," Freya nods, running a hand through her hair, "We'll get started in a minute but first… _coffee_."


	5. New Orleans

**Disclaimer: I don't own any of it or make any money from any of it, all of it belongs to those who created The Vampire Diaries and The Originals.**

* * *

A few aspirin and a cup of coffee later, Freya was hard at work sorting the curse Mikael left on Caroline. After a few tries, she gives up and stares at Caroline irritably. "I don't get it…what am I missing?"

"Maybe you need a boost?" Caroline suggests, holding out her hand, "I can help."

"How?" Freya blinks at her, "I can't channel your energy for the reversal spell because you're the cursed person in question."

"No," Caroline smiles faintly, "But I _can_ help you cast it."

"That's not possible," Freya says wearily, leaning back on the couch, "How are you able to use magic?"

"I wasn't born a witch," Caroline says thoughtfully, fingering the pale blue stone embedded in a casing of silver on her right index finger. "But I apprenticed under your Mother and learned a lot about magic over the years. I know my way around her grimoire. I came up with a way to defend myself against Mikael, it was the only way I could escape him. I made this ring—it channels the magic used to sustain me as a vampire and I can turn it into magic for any basic spell I need. I can't do anything fancy…locator spells, barrier spells…that kind of thing. The last time I tried to do something big it knocked me out."

"That's…that's brilliant," Freya says, examining the ring on Caroline's finger, "I'm assuming that without this you can't use magic anymore."

"Exactly," Caroline says, "which is why I spelled it to stay on my finger."

"Good thinking," Freya says thoughtfully, "but I won't risk channeling your magic for the spell, the curse might corrupt it. Elijah—would you mind?" Freya says, extending a hand towards him.

"Of course," Elijah says as he takes her hand, allowing her to channel his power. Caroline eases away from him, careful to stay within the salt circle Freya made for the spell. Already she can feel the creep of pain sliding up her arms with his nearness.

" _qui captivatur et liberate_ ," Freya chants, her eyes closed as she focuses her power on the circle and Caroline, " _qui captivatur et liberate_ …"

Caroline winces, flashes of pain rip through her body as she drops to her knees, the feeling of her blood burning in her veins as the curse is ripped away from it. By the time Freya is done, she is a weeping mess on the floor, the curse cleansed from her blood and body but not without consequence.

"Leave it to my Father to ensure when removing the curse, it would cause absolute pain," Elijah says, kneeling at Caroline's side so he could swing her up into his arms and carry her out to the car. "We need to get moving— _now_."

"What about Silas?" Damon says, "he stole some of your witchy sister's _blood_."

"We'll worry about him later," Elijah tells him, "I will return when Caroline is safely back in New Orleans."

"I'll use a cloaking spell to shield us from him," Freya says, following Elijah out to the car, "Silas is definitely a problem but what's happening at home is currently at the top of my list right now."

"What's happening back in New Orleans?" Caroline blinks, shifting her gaze between Elijah and Freya curiously.

* * *

Two hours later, Freya and Elijah have caught Caroline up on current events happening in the quarter. This thing that calls itself _The_ _Hollow_ is hunting children down and stealing their power. Marcellus, the boy she remembered who was so sweet and curious has become a creature that many have taken to calling _The_ _Beast_ , Rebekah and Kol are running amuck in Europe, Finn apparently came back and died again, Klaus is off his head between losing a woman named Camille and being terrorized by the hollow, and Marcel isn't any better.

 _Great_.

She's gone for a few decades and everything goes to shit in the Mikaelson house.

"Tell me about Camille," Caroline says after a beat.

Freya and Elijah exchange glances before Elijah responds, "You have to understand…Niklaus was alone for a very long time…he mourned you for years…he wasn't the same when you were lost. He got worse, he was violent and vengeful…angry…"

"Yeah, I remember," Caroline says pointedly, "Remember I was here when he came to town and tried to kill my best friend. I know how he was—get back to Camille."

"Cami was the first person who has come along and not run away from him," Freya says quietly, staring out the window, "she was our friend…she saved him so many times…and he saved her. For the first time in decades our brother had finally found some semblance of happiness since losing you."

She takes a moment to soak in this new information, wrapping her mind around the idea that Nik had moved on. She understands it, she can't blame him for it because in all honesty, she would want him to be happy. He thought she was dead, she can't hold this against him. "I see."

The car ride to the airport is long and quiet after that, Caroline staring out the window at the passing foliage, the road signs, the swamps. When they reach the airport, she follows them to the plane that awaited them, making herself at home in one of the many rooms the private jet had to offer.

Maybe she should just stay away…maybe he didn't love her anymore. Suddenly, eternity seemed like a long and endless road, stretching on into forever. Always and forever no longer seemed like a promise but a chain around her neck, binding her to the Mikaelson siblings for the rest of her days.

"I was wondering where you were hiding," Freya's voice is smooth and gentle as she enters the room, making herself comfortable on a cream colored leather sofa across from Caroline, "I know this is a lot to take in," she tells her after a pause, "I realize it must hurt…but she was good for Nik…she changed him…made him better…she was changing him back to the man you all knew before he lost you."  
"I'm ok," Caroline says tersely, suppressing the ache of jealousy—she shouldn't be jealous….she wanted him to be happy and move on if something had happened to her. She never actually intended him to move on however when she wasn't _actually_ dead.

"Maybe I shouldn't go," Caroline says quietly, staring into a glass of chardonnay she poured herself shortly upon arriving. "Maybe he doesn't want me there."

" _Of course,_ you should go," Freya sits up, meeting her gaze, "He _wants_ you there."

"How do you know that?" Caroline asks her seriously, "He moved on…and I'm just…"

"Niklaus has never stopped loving you," Elijah cuts in, his frame filling the doorway, " _never_ —and though he might hide it or perhaps never realized it…Camille reminded me a great deal of you."

"You said they left for Santa Fe," Caroline says after a beat.

"Caroline," Freya says pointedly, "Don't run away from him."

"I don't want too," Caroline says after a beat, "but this is…a lot to take in. I spent decades in a tomb with a dagger in my chest—he thought I was dead I get it—and…he was out there falling in love with someone else." She laughs bitterly, downing her chardonnay, "Mikael will never stop tormenting me…not till the end of eternity. Not even when he's dead and gone he's still here haunting me."

Freya frowns at her words, stares nervously at her hands before saying, "I loved my Father…he was a good man. He wasn't always cold and cruel…once he was kind and gentle. That's the man my Mother fell in love with…but when I disappeared, he changed. I saw what he became at the end, and I'm sorry for what he did to you…but I love him regardless…and I don't think blaming him for this will change anything."

"Where is he now?" Caroline asks quietly.

"Dead," Freya responds, "Very dead…for good this time—Niklaus made sure of that."

Caroline doesn't say anything, merely stares at her empty glass and ponders the memories she had of her time with Mikael, of the nightmares that followed, and those brief shining moments when she could see beneath all that horror and cruelty existed a man who once held _so_ _much_ love in his heart.

"How did you disappear?" Caroline says after a long while, pouring herself another glass, "I was told you died of plague."

Yet another long story, and it takes Freya an hour to explain it all.

* * *

"Wow," Caroline says, staring at her thoughtfully, "So…she cast some sleeping beauty curse on you and that's how you became immortal."

"Not anymore," Freya smiles wanly, "I…will grow old and die now. I'm free of Dalia forever."

"So, you escape and your crazy aunt chases you to New Orleans," Caroline recaps aloud, "you run to Klaus hoping for help which of course in traditional Klaus fashion, refuses because he's a paranoid shut-in."

"You married him," Elijah remarks from somewhere in the background.

"Best decision I ever made too," Caroline says in response.

"Anyways," Freya cuts in.

"Anyways," Caroline says with a sip of chardonnay, "Elijah decides to trust you, you take out Dalia and everybody lived happily ever after—honestly this is kind of starting to sound like _Tangled_."

"Tangled?" Freya quirks a brow.

"You know, that Disney movie…I found it in Bonnie's stash of _happy_ movies…can you believe that there's actually some things about the modern world I don't know about yet? I left before they came out!"

"I assume you know how to use a phone yes?" Elijah says, handing her a sleek black smartphone, "I've programmed all our numbers into it already."

"Thank you," Caroline smiles warmly up at him, tucking the phone into her back pocket.

"Of course," he smiles wanly before finding a seat near Freya.

"So…how did you end up in that tomb anyways?" Freya asks curiously, quirking a brow.

"That….is a very long story…" Caroline smiles before beginning her tale.

* * *

 _ **June 22**_ _ **nd**_ _ **, 1922**_

In the days that passed, she believed she would never escape him. Her family had fled New Orleans, believing her dead and Mikael had carried her off into the bayou to bid his time. Now she sits on the floor of an old wooden shack, glowering at him while he cleaned _Rakul_.

"Staring is rude," he comments idly, "you know how I feel about it."

"You're not my Father," Caroline says flatly, "your nothing to me…you're a murderer and you a psycho that hunts his own _children_."

"You've a sharp tongue Thyra," Mikael cautions, "If you wish to keep it you should _shut your mouth_."

And so it began.

The longest trek of her life with the most irritating man she's ever met. They stayed in the bayou for a month, the stench of swamp and moss growing sour by the day, while her hunger ravaged her body and her mind began to drift. Mikael was starving her, he'd taken her daylight ring from her as well. Chained to the wall she could do little to fight him, the manacles were spelled to keep her at bay, to keep her weak. Finally, when she could endure no longer she spoke again.

" _Please_ ," she says brokenly, her lips cracked, her skin flushed. Her veins felt like sand paper and with every breath and every movement she felt nothing but agony.

"Are you hungry?" Mikael asks her, turning in his chair to look at her from across the room, "That's good—I need you to be hungry. It's the only way I can show you the error of your ways."

"What?" Caroline asks weakly, confused.

"I have rules you will follow," Mikael says pointedly, "important rules…you will never feed on another human again—only vampires…and you will do as your told."

" _Cannibalism_?" Caroline makes a disgusted face, "You want me to _eat_ my own kind?" Caroline stares at him like he's gone mad, "That's _sick_."

"You will do as your told, or you won't feed at all _do I make myself clear_?" Mikael says firmly, gritting his teeth in irritation at her outburst.

"Why are doing this?" Caroline says brokenly, fighting back tears, "what have I ever done to you?" She stares and stares, searching his angry face, "It's because I married Nik isn't it? I loved him and you hated me for it. You hate anyone who loves him—who cares about him at all. Your doing this because I love him and you can't stand it."

"I never understood why you loved that weak little coward," Mikael says darkly, meeting her gaze, "that _boy_ is useless and always will be."

"He's not the coward," Caroline says, steeling herself, "You are—you're the coward…only cowards beat innocent children, only a coward hunts his own children half way across the world just to _murder_ them—if anyone is a coward, _you are_."

He doesn't react, careful to hold his anger in check as he casually stands and walks towards her, "I think that's enough out of you for now."

He is a blur of speed as he snaps her neck in one fluid motion, and she knows nothing for a long while after that.

She tries to escape many times over the past year.

One of her greatest was the day she got her hands on the white oak stake, wielding it like a swordsman in battle as Mikael approaches her. "Stay away from me."

"What are you going to do with that?" Mikael laughs coldly, skeptically, "are you going to kill me with that?"

"I don't want to hurt you, but I will use it if I have to," Caroline tells him forcefully, "Stay back!"

He takes another step forward, unafraid.

"Stupid girl," he grounds out irritably, "Do you think you can honestly kill me with that? _Me_? I put a roof over your head and kept food on your table, I guarded you against wolves and enemies who sought to destroy our village and you would turn that against _me_?"

"You've held me captive for six months," Caroline screams in anger and outrage, "You chain me to the wall like a _dog_ , you starve me, you take my daylight ring from me, you force me to be a _cannibal_ and hunt my own progeny, hunt the children of my siblings and you think I wouldn't turn on you for that?"

"You and your siblings made that _mess_ ," Mikael hisses angrily, "it is only fitting that one of you help me clean it up!" He glowers hotly, his gaze shifting between Caroline and the stake in her hands.

Mikael had taught her to fight over the course of the last few months, he was forcing her to help him hunt down every vampire they made, to vanquish the disease they spread across the land as he puts it, and in that time, he taught her many things. Most of it involved him breaking her bones and beating her ruthlessly every time she got it wrong…but aside from that, she learned something. He was buying time, she had the white oak in her hands, literally holding the key to her freedom and he needed to get it away from her.

She would never let it go—he taught her that—your weapon is an extension of your hand, it cannot part from you.

"You taught me to kill vampires," Caroline says coldly, meeting his gaze, "I see one before me right now."

He laughs—actually _laughs_ at her.

"Your too weak to fight me," he sneers coldly, "like your husband, you will never be anything more than a weak little _child_."

Unfortunately, what he didn't realize was that she wasn't exactly chained to the wall anymore.

In a blinding movement, she attacks. They dance like only vampires can, a blur of movement, the white oak flashing back and forth but she never lets it go, refuses to let it go. When she realizes she can't win this, when she knows he is too fast she tries something else…something desperate.

She turns the stake on herself, meeting his gaze with steel in her own.

" _Oh_ ," he raises his eyebrows, "you're going to kill yourself, are you? Well go on…." His gaze turns poisonous, hateful, "Do it—or are you as much as _coward_ as your precious Niklaus?"

She only stares at him, hate and sorrow burning in her eyes.

"You know," he says as he tucks his hands in his pockets, "Niklaus tried to kill me once too—it didn't end well for him." He watches her thoughtfully for a moment before adding, "You remember what I told you when we first came here? I told you that if you ever tried to betray me, I would dagger you and leave you to rot in a tomb…let your precious Niklaus go on in the world believing you dead and nobody would ever come for you—you would be _forgotten_. Until the time came that I could use you to lure Niklaus out…then I would finally _end_ this once and for all."

She could do this…she could do this….

A deep breath…the wood presses against her skin and tears burn in her eyes, she would die but Nik would be free of that influence, Mikael could never use her to get to him. With every last ounce of strength and bravery she wields, she raises the stake and strikes.

But that moment never comes.

Instead, Mikael is behind her, the stake in his hands, driving it into her back with cold and cruel _agony_. She screams and stumbles, feels the tip of it grazing against her heart, death creeping up her arms, her legs…her body felt like _lead_.

"Do you feel that?" Mikael hisses near her ear, "feel it grazing just _near_ your heart…enough to paralyze but not kill? Imagine—I could only press down just a little more and you'd _die_. Rest assured I will not kill you now, but if you ever steal from me again I will do more to you then drive a stake through your black little heart—I will first kill all that you _love_. I will force you to watch Niklaus die, and then and only then will I kill you. You will not escape me, and if you try and touch this again—I will _cut off your hand_."

He wretches the stake free, snaps her neck and she knows only darkness.

The very last time she tries to escape, she succeeds…for a little while.

It is raining, a dark and cloudy day in the south of France, they were held up in a hotel room—Mikael relinquished his hold on her enough now that she was allowed to help him mend weapons, to walk around the room, to even go down and get coffee. He nearly killed her the last time she tried to escape him, and that fear was enough to drive her to behave…for now. She earns his trust slowly but surely, makes him believe she's changing her ways…that she agrees with his views…that the Mikaelson's must die and though she loves Niklaus…he is a monster. She pretends to struggle with this—Caroline is a good actress. She pretends to weep on balconies, to stare longingly at the sky…she wants him to think she mourns Niklaus, dreads his death but knows it's necessary.

What a shmuck.

What he doesn't realize is that though she wasn't born a witch, she knew how to contain him.

All she needed was magic.

* * *

That part wasn't easy, and she gathered the things she needed while travelling with him through Peru and France and Russia. She couldn't risk conning a witch into imbuing it for her so she used old school magic to do it herself. For this, she didn't need actual magic to prepare the ring, she simply used the magic of nature to make it happen. Old school magic infused the world around them to perform magic, things like apples….herbs…slivers of tree bark…all of these things had magical properties that could be used to cast spells without actual magic.

Esther taught her well.

The ring is ready when she uses her knowledge to prepare it under the light of a full moon, charging it and giving it the strength she needed to channel the magic within her own body to create a boundary spell around the hotel room.

While Mikael slept, she created a salt ring around the door of the room, every window and every exit was sealed. Hands outstretched she stood just outside the room and closed her eyes, chanting quietly least Mikael wake and try to stop her.

" _Ligare loco signum illud, quod ex natura insunt retinent haesitaret, serva obsisti_ ," she chants pointedly, the ring on her finger glowing as it channels the magic used to keep her alive, to make her a vampire into the spell. " _Ligare loco signum illud, quod ex natura insunt retinent haesitaret, serva obsisti_ …"

Mikael is awake, she doesn't break focus even as he slams into the barrier at the door, blood begins to ooze from her nose as she chants. " _Ligare loco signum illud, quod ex natura insunt retinent haesitaret, serva obsisti_ …" Her body is turning to lead, the magic is being siphoned from it, the very magic keeping her alive.

"You _stupid_ girl!" he roars in anger, slamming his fist against the barrier, "Let me out!"

"Ligare loco signum illud, quod ex natura insunt retinent haesitaret, serva obsisti…" Caroline presses on, her chanting getting stronger as she struggles to breath, forcing the words out with nothing but her own willpower, collapsing to her knees as the spell drains the life from her. " _Ligare loco signum illud, quod ex natura insunt retinent haesitaret, serva obsisti_!"

It is done.

As she collapses into a heap in the hallway, Mikael crouches down on the opposite side of the barrier, sneering at her thought there is a glimmer of surprise in his eyes, "Clever… little… _witch_ …."

She blacks out.

When she wakes, she scrambles to her feet, the magic flooding her body, the color returning to her skin. Mikael is still trapped, and he's staring at her thoughtfully. "I underestimated you little witch."

"That makes two of us," Caroline says as she turns to leave.

"I _will_ find you," he calls as she goes, "no matter where you go or how far you run…I will find you. This barrier won't hold forever Thyra."

"My _name_ ," Caroline says as she glances back at him, "Is _Caroline_ —and I'll be long gone before you ever get out of there…goodbye Mikael."

That is the last time she sees him for at least another month.

She's never told him her real name before, she wonders if he even knew it.

* * *

 _ **December 25th, 1923**_

She is _home_.

New Orleans is beautiful, it's been a year since she last saw it. They had fled, or so she thought but Caroline discovers quickly that they never really left. It takes her ages to find them, because Mikael spent most of his days chasing his tail, believing he'd found them and dragging her along for the ride. So, she never knew they'd never left, and now that she'd found them…

Niklaus.

There he was in the crowd, that devilish smile, that sleek white suit. His siblings were dressed to the nines, Rebekah looked beautiful as ever. She saw the Christmas photo they take, the pretty blond Kol flirts with, the laughter and then music as Caroline makes her way through the crowd.

How long has she waited for this?

How far has she ran, and how hard has she fought to reach him?

"Nik," Caroline beams, free at last….so very free, and he was so _close_.

"I told you I would find you," Caroline lets out a cry of alarm, Mikael wrapping an arm about her waist, yanking her back into the shadows. "NIK!" Caroline screams as he drags her away, "NIK!"

She struggles, he is too strong. She screams Klaus's name until her throat is raw, clawing at his arms, flailing with every ounce of strength she had.

"I warned you about what would happen if you betrayed me Caroline," Mikael says coldly as he drives the dagger into her heart.

" _Nik_ …" she says brokenly, her heart shattering into tiny pieces, he was so close and yet she would never reach him now. Her body turns to lead, her skin turning gray. Mikael swings her up into his arms and is gone in a flash.

Little did Caroline know that though she believed she'd led Mikael to them, it was Rebekah who had betrayed her.

It was Rebekah who had summoned Mikael to New Orleans…and Rebekah who stopped Caroline from ever reaching Klaus. Of course, Rebekah hadn't known Caroline was there at all.

Nevertheless, because of her actions she spends the next few decades daggered and sealed inside a tomb in the middle of North Virginia.

Mikael felt it was only fitting of course, that she be entombed in the very place it all first began.

Freya swallows thickly, staring at Caroline with a mixture of horror and sorrow. "I'm sorry."

"It is what it is," Caroline says with a sigh, downing the last of her chardonnay.

"Niklaus mentioned to me once that he knew our Father was there was because he could have sworn he heard you screaming his name…" Elijah says in deep thought, "You were the reason we were able to get away that night….he went looking for you, I kept telling him you were dead but he was certain he heard you….that's how we ran across our Father and in the years to come Niklaus grew to believe you'd somehow warned him as some kind of guiding spirit so to speak…"

"He thought I was his _guardian_ _angel_?" Caroline snorts with a laugh, "I'm hardly an angel, believe me." She frowns thoughtfully, leaning back in her seat, "I took measures to protect all of you…I killed people in the name of _Always and Forever_ …I wanted to get back to you and I didn't let anything get in the way of that. I am no angel…I did terrible things to get back to you on that day...I killed witches and compelled humans and burned whole houses to the ground to distract Mikael, to keep him chasing his own tail so I could sneak back to New Orleans and search for you all."

"Nothing we all haven't done before I can assure you," Elijah says quietly, setting his glass aside, "Our pact is a difficult one to live up to."

"Tell me about it," Freya mutters, still sore from her battle with Silas.

* * *

New Orleans is hot and muggy when they arrive, and Caroline isn't accustomed to the heat. She changes into a pale white sun dress, staring at herself in the mirror and wondering if this was a good idea. She missed him with every breath in her body and yet would he still miss her?

They leave for the town house, a run-down building shrouded in greenery since Marcel had apparently run them all out of town. It wasn't the homecoming she anticipated, but it would do. She really didn't care where they lived so long as she was with them. The sound of jazz and food perfume the air, and the joy of New Orleans comes rushing back to her, bringing a smile to her face. She'd forgotten how much she loved this place, how good it felt to be here.

"I remember that smile," his voice says and she freezes, listening to his soft words, "the first time I saw you…you were doing that. Your face turned towards the sun, a smile on your face."

Elijah glances up at his brother before taking Caroline's luggage in his free hand, glancing at Freya as he does, "Freya it's been a long journey and I think I would like a drink—would you join me?"

"Yes I will," Freya smiles at him before picking up her own luggage.

"Come," Elijah says as he turns towards the downstairs parlor, "Let's leave Niklaus and Caroline to reacquaint."

When they are gone, the silence in the room is deafening.

"Nik," Caroline smiles, she was so nervous—why was she so nervous?

"Caroline," he's in front of her in a blur of movement, his eyes drinking in her face, a hand sliding along the delicate skin of her cheek. "Is it really you?"

"Yes," Caroline tells him softly, "Nik I'm so sorry….I couldn't get away-…"

"Stop," he tells her softly, a finger to her lips, "we'll have time enough for stories later—I assume Elijah informed you of the danger we face here?"

"Yes," Caroline says softly, meeting his gaze, "I say _bring_ _it_."

He smiles wanly, "We have much to catch up on I think."

"Yeah," Caroline nods, "I know some of it…Elijah and Freya filled me in on a lot of it."

"Caroline," he is hesitant, unsure for the briefest moments, "if I had known he held you captive…if I'd known…"

"I know," Caroline smiles, stepping forward, a hand to his cheek, "Nik it's alright…you didn't know."

"I would have never allowed him to imprison you," he says desperately, leaning close, "I'd have ripped the very _heart_ from his chest for it."

"It's ok," Caroline reassures him, leaning her head on his shoulder, "I'm just glad to be home."

"And you'll never have to leave again," he says as he embraces her, pressing a kiss to her temple, "I promise you that."

Curled against him, they watch the sun fade in the horizon and night descend on New Orleans through the lavish windows of his bedroom. She never wants to leave his side, her head on his shoulder, a hand on his chest. The fire crackles quietly in the hearth, the room feels so warm and inviting. He's decorated it beautifully, but then again, he does that with everything.

"I can't believe you knew what you knew and you were sitting there just _letting_ me run around with Tyler," she says, smiling against the material of his shirt.

"And you wondered at my motives for driving him off," Klaus smirks as he stares at the ceiling thoughtfully.

"Killing his Mom and murdering his pack was a little too far," Caroline says idly.

" _That_ ," he says after a beat, "that was for other reasons aside from him touching what didn't belong to him…I knew you were mine the moment I saw you."

"Is that so?" Caroline grins as she leans up to look at him, "as I recall, you were chasing Tatia's skirts for the better part of our human lives."

"I was a fool," he says, a hand sliding along her cheek, "I couldn't see what beauty lay before me."

"Flattery will get you _everywhere_ Niklaus," Caroline grins as she leans in close, their lips touching soft and supple like the wings of a butterfly. It was tentative and gentle, as if he feared to frighten her off and she feared he would turn her away. He is gentle at first, tentative when his hands slide along her shoulders, down her arms, to her waist. She lets him push her down into the mattress, leaning over her, one leg between hers, pinning her down beneath him. Her arms curl around his neck, sliding along the strength of his shoulders, his biceps. " _Nik_ …" she breaths when his teeth find her shoulder, his fingers curling along the hem of her skirt, sliding along warm soft skin, skating higher towards her breasts. She can never resist him it feels like, every time he touched her it felt as if her body would catch fire and burn. Nobody ever made her feel as he does, her fingers curling in his hair when his mouth finds the tip of her breast over her dress. She arches against him, her body sliding along his, a gasp of need bursting from her lips as desire floods her body.

She is practically itching to rip his shirt off.

He wasn't going to let that happen.

When her fingers tense at the collar of his shirt he pins her hands above her head, using his free hand to dance along the hem of her skirt, hiking it up above her thighs, skilled fingers dancing along the lace of her underwear. He touches her everywhere but where she _needs_ him to touch her, stoking the fire burning low in her belly, making her nipples ache and her clothes uncomfortable. She lets out a little gasp of shock and desire when he smoothly rips the lacy underwear from her body with a single sharp yank, a warm hand cupping the apex of her desire. Fingers sliding along the wetness between her thighs, and she is panting with need.

" _Nik_ …Nik please…" Caroline moans, " _Please_."

She arches towards his fingers, pressing closer, her breasts aching to be lavished by his mouth, her body aching to be pleasured by his hands.

"Do you remember the first time we lay together," he says against her breast, his teeth pulling the edge of her dress down, a soft supple breast sliding free from the confines of her lacy little bra. He always liked her in lace, soft and supple, it cupped her in all the right places, framing the beauty before him like one of his paintings.

"We'd just turned," Caroline pants softly into the fading light of the room, "everything was new to us….everything felt different….sex was like….electricity…."

"We couldn't stop," he grins, a tongue sliding against her nipple and making her cry out in pleasure, "I bed you on every surface we could find…we drove my siblings mad."

Caroline grins, unable to stop a laugh, "Rebekah threatened to put a chastity belt on me."

"I doubt that would have stopped us for long," he grins against the skin of her neck, nibbling, making her squirm beneath him. When he pushes a single finger into her, she cries out as her hips rock against his hand, her body begging for more. "Yes…please… _please_ …"

He is ruthless when he rips the dress from her body with a sharp yank, leaving her with nothing but a thin lacy bra to shield her body from him. He slides his tongue over the lace, heat radiating through the thin lace while he pushes another finger into her, his hand stroking her body, making her cry out as pleasure rips through her body, her skin burning for him, her every breath craved him, her hands frantic as they claw at him, tearing his shirt, ripping it right down the back as she scrambles to get it off of him.

"Behave," he says as he meets her gaze, "Or I'll stop."

Caroline huffs in frustration, lifting her hands above her head, resting them against the head board. He flips her over, hands sliding over her bare ass, between her cheeks, his warm mouth pressing kisses to the skin of her back. She lets out a little cry when his a single digit presses down against the tender skin between her cheeks, biting down hard on her lip as he works that same digit slowly into her, another reaching down to pleasure the heat between her legs as well.

"Oh _fuck_ Nik…" Caroline whimpers into the pillows, arching towards his hands.

"See if you'd came to me when I asked for you…" he whispers against her skin, his fingers working her harder as she screams, her body rocking with pleasure, "we could have been doing this a long time ago."

"If I remember correctly, we did," Caroline smiles against his skin, "Many...many times."

"I only took those memories from you to preserve your unruffled feathers until a time you could accept them," he says in defense, nibbling her shoulder playfully.

Not that she didn't have wet dreams about him doing this to her after that night at his house, of the way they danced, the way he stared, the beautiful blue gown…the smoothness of his voice, the firmness of his grasp on her waist…fuck did she want him that night. As hard as it was to admit, Elena hit home when she spoke of Caroline's dirty thoughts about Klaus. Elena knew, she'd always known but because she had humanity at the time, she never called her out on it…but when Elena turned it off….

He bites down, sharp teeth sinking into the tender flesh of her shoulder and she screams, rocking back against his hands. His venom would seep into her blood and make her burn, but his blood could equally heal her. That same venom heightened her arousal, made her float as light as air, whimpering when he pulls away, undoing his pants, shedding the last of his clothes. She blinks away the spots dancing in front of her eyes, face down against the pillows, his hands sliding over her backside, down hips, over her waist as he pulls her towards him. She gasps at the feel of him spreading her, the strength of his need when he pushes into her, just enough to make her ache and grow hotter.

She is a panting mess when he moves, her body rocking back against his, the only sound in the room is the sound of skin against skin, of their breathing, the giggle she makes when the frame begins to creak and snap.

There is _no_ way Elijah and the others can't hear them right now.

She can't hold back the cries when pleasure rips through her again, their bodies pounding against each other with desperate force. His wrist appears before her when the venom in her blood starts to overpower her, though she is an original, it still sucks to be bitten. Her teeth sink into his wrist as he finds his own pleasure, and she drinks greedily like a little savage, hungry for him, for his blood and his body and his very breath. She wants him close and it's never enough, she can never be close enough.

They make love four more times, one again on the bed, another on the floor when the frame collapses and they go toppling off of it, another in the shower, once on the bathroom sink and then again on the bed before they both finally fall asleep, the sound of a vacant house around them.

No doubt the rest of the family has fled save they be forced to listen.

Oh well.


End file.
